Kodai Senga, RHP

Player Data: Age: 32 (1/30/1993) B/T: L/R

Primary Stats: 7-6, 3.02 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 113.1 IP, 109 SO, 55 BB, 22 G (22 GS)
Advanced Stats: 133 ERA+, 22.6 K%, 11.4 BB%, 3.92 xERA, 4.12 FIP, 4.35 xFIP, 1.4 fWAR, 2.1 bWAR

2025 Salary: $15 million (team option in 2028)

Grade: C

2025 Review

It was a strange season for Senga. It began with dominance but culminated as a letdown, leaving lingering questions for next year.

Senga’s 2025 campaign can be boiled down to two approximate halves: one before his hamstring injury and one after. Before the injury, he was cruising. He posted a 1.47 ERA in 13 starts, while averaging about 5 2/3 innings per outing. His FIP was a worse but still good 3.24.

After the injury, which sidelined him for about a month, he posted a 5.90 ERA in nine starts. His FIP was right around the same at 5.76. He averaged less than five innings per start. He also walked 5.4 batters per nine innings in that span.

Senga threw four scoreless innings in his return from the injured list on July 11. After that, his ERA was 6.56 for the rest of the year.

Assessing the overall body of work is a little tricky. In a vacuum, if somebody told you before the season that Senga would post a 3.02 ERA in 22 starts, you’d view that as basically a win (minus a handful of missed starts). And even regardless of the injury, Senga was bound to regress from the mid-1.00s ERA he was putting up early on.

But he ended the season seriously trending in the wrong direction. As mentioned, his FIP was about two and a half runs higher after the injury than before. It even led to a demotion to Triple-A Syracuse. Senga didn’t make another MLB start.

His peripherals for the season were underwhelming. In 2023, when he placed second in Rookie of the Year voting, Senga struck out 10.9 batters per nine innings. This year, that number was just 8.7. And it was below 9.0 even before the injury. His BB/9 was about the same in both seasons: 4.2 in 2023 and 4.4 in 2025.

Senga was still an above-average pitcher overall this year. But he missed some time, then struggled down the stretch, leaving the Mets at a bit of a crossroads with him.

2026 Preview

The two most apparent questions to answer with Senga are whether he can return to form and whether he can stay healthy.

It could be nice for Senga to get a fresh start. While he struggled late in 2025 and reportedly had lower velocity in live batting practice, there’s no indication that he’s still feeling the effects of his hamstring strain. How he performs out of the gates in 2026 will be critical to see if he still has it.
But that leads to the second point, which is whether Senga can keep his body in shape for a whole season.

Senga, who debuted in the majors at age 30, will already be 33 next year. He made 29 starts as a rookie, but only 23 since then. He made just one regular-season start in 2024. The injuries have piled up heavily on Senga over the last two years.

“Kodai has had two very inconsistent, challenging years in a row,” president of baseball operations David Stearns said in his end-of-season press conference. “We know it’s in there. We know there’s potential. We’re going to do everything we can to help get it out of him. But look, can we put him in ink as making 30 starts next year? I think that would be foolish.”

It’s tricky with Senga because he’s still been successful. He owns an even 3.00 ERA and 10.1 K/9 over 52 MLB starts. But the way he finished out 2025 leaves a lot more worry than hope.

For what it’s worth, Andy Martino of SNY reported that Senga’s September option to Triple-A didn’t strain his relationship with the team.

Senga did have to consent to that option, as per the stipulations on his contract. He’s put in a lot of grueling work to try to get back to normalcy — whether it’s been rehab, time on the injured list or minor league starts.
Senga and the Mets will hope that work comes to fruition in 2026.