Kodai Senga will finally return to the New York Mets on Friday night.
The Atlanta Braves hope Friday will finally mark their long-awaited return to offensive form.
Senga is slated to make his 2024 debut when the Mets host the skidding Braves in the second contest of a key four-game series between the National League East rivals.
Senga, who hasn’t pitched this season due to a right shoulder injury, is scheduled to oppose fellow right-hander Charlie Morton (5-5, 3.92 ERA).
The Mets remained hot Thursday night, when Jeff McNeil hit the walk-off RBI single in the 10th inning to lift New York to a 3-2 win in the series opener.
The victory continued a lengthy resurgence for the Mets, who lead the majors with a 32-15 record since May 30. New York, which was as many as 11 games under .500 earlier this season, has jumped into the second NL wild-card position and is just a half-game behind the Braves.
“We’ve come a long way from the beginning of the year and we’ve put ourselves in a good spot and we’re playing some good baseball,” McNeil said. “We’ll see what happens.”
The Mets are curious to see what Senga can bring to a rotation in need of pitchers who can provide length. New York’s starters have averaged just 4.95 innings in the first seven games following the All-Star break.
Senga finished second in the NL Rookie of the Year and seventh in NL Cy Young Award balloting last year, when he went 12-7 with a 2.92 ERA and 202 strikeouts in 166 1/3 innings. He posted a 4.15 ERA in four rehab starts split between Class-A Brooklyn and Triple-A Syracuse.
“Will be the first time I’m watching him pitch live,” first-year Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Been a long road for him and for all of us. I’m just excited that we’re finally getting our guy back here, and he’s going to be a huge help for us.”
The undermanned Braves, who are missing lineup stalwarts Ronald Acuna Jr. (torn left ACL), Ozzie Albies (broken left wrist) and Michael Harris II (strained left hamstring), have been in search of a boost for the better part of two months.
The Braves outhit the Mets 7-3 on Thursday but ran into key outs in the ninth and 10th innings, when Whit Merrifield was thrown out trying to steal third and Ramon Laureano got caught in a rundown following a botched suicide-squeeze attempt by Jarred Kelenic.
“When you’re not scoring runs, man, you’ve got to play pretty much clean baseball,” Braves manager Brian Snitker said.
Atlanta, which finished within the top three in the NL in runs in each of the previous five seasons, have scored three runs or fewer 24 times in their past 46 games. The Braves have gone 22-24 in that span. They are just one game ahead of the Padres, who occupy the third NL wild-card spot, and three other teams are within 1 1/2 games of San Diego.
“There’s a certain time that you’ve got to get it going,” said Braves left-hander Chris Sale, who gave up two runs and two hits over 7 1/3 innings Thursday. “Just hoping it’s sooner rather than later.”
Senga won his lone start against the Braves last Aug. 13, when he gave up three runs over six innings in the Mets’ 7-6 victory.
Morton didn’t factor into the decision on Saturday after allowing one run over six innings in the Braves’ 3-2, 10-inning win over the St. Louis Cardinals in the opener of a doubleheader.
He is 7-6 with a 3.58 ERA in 24 career games (23 starts) against the Mets, including 1-0 with a 3.55 ERA in two starts this season.
–Field Level Media
