Ahead of '24 debut, Senga 'really itching to be back out there'

This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo's Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

NEW YORK -- Three hundred and four days after his most recent big league start, Kodai Senga is returning to the Majors. In Luis Severino’s words, grab your popcorn.

It’s been a winding road back for Senga, the Mets’ best pitcher last season. Diagnosed with a strained right posterior shoulder capsule in February, Senga subsequently dealt with triceps discomfort and nerve inflammation, all while battling his mechanics. It took him months to iron out the issues and return to Citi Field a healthy player.

But he’s here now, ready to start on Friday against the Braves in his first Major League outing since Sept. 27, when he capped a superlative rookie season with 202 strikeouts and a 2.98 ERA in 29 starts.

More than that, Senga is ready to contribute to a Mets team that has been riding high without him.

“I’m there in the locker room with them, but I’m not really in the circle with them,” Senga said this week through an interpreter. “So I was just really itching to be back out there and perform.”

At his best, Senga is an ace-caliber pitcher who gives the Mets a dimension they’ve lacked. Consider the metric ERA+, which teases out league dynamics and park factors to measure a pitcher’s true performance. Among Mets starters who have thrown at least 50 innings, Severino holds the highest ERA+ of 109. (A score of 100 is league average.) Last year, Senga’s ERA+ was 140, which earned him a smattering of down-ballot NL Cy Young Award votes.

Should the Mets ultimately make the playoffs, that sort of frontline potential could give them a significant advantage -- it’s Game 1 starter type of stuff. But team officials aren’t thinking that way quite yet. For now, the Mets simply want to make sure their top starter stays healthy through the end of September, knowing a healthy Senga will likely be a productive one.

“Going into the year, we thought he was No. 1, right?” said manager Carlos Mendoza, who has never seen Senga pitch live. “And then early in Spring Training, he goes down, and here we are in late July. Finally, to get him back -- it’s good for him, because he’s been anxious to get out there and help the team. But for the team as well, for the boys, they saw him last year. It’s huge for us.”

Added Senga: “I’ve been working towards this for the last few months. I feel 100 percent ready, and I’m excited to get back out there.”