Photo by MMO’s Ed Delany

Before they head out to Miami on Tuesday, the Mets played an intrasquad game on Monday at Clover Park.

Kodai Senga pitched five scoreless innings for one of the squads and looked how he has all spring: locked in and ready for the regular season. Senga struck out seven in five innings of work on Monday, including three straight strikeouts in the first inning to start the game.

Buck Showalter spoke on Senga’s outing, saying physically he felt good. Showalter stated that Senga threw approximately 72 pitches that included 12 or 15 split fingers (or, ghost forks).

“We’ll see how he feels tomorrow,” said Showalter. “See what the feedback is, but he was good.” Showalter also stated that Senga’s outing on Monday was on regular rest, which will be good preparation for the regular season and a good setup for his first start of the year.

For his first outing on Sunday against the Miami Marlins, Showalter said he will be scheduled to throw about 90 pitches, depending on how the game goes.

So far this spring Senga threw 42 pitches in his first start against St. Louis. 47 in his next start, and 58 pitches on March 22 against the Astros. As stated above, he threw 72 on Monday.

Senga also spoke about his final outing of the spring and how he felt about his final time on the mound before it all counts.

“I thought I had pretty good control of my pitches and it went pretty well,” he responded.

Senga, the right-hander from Gamagori, Japan, gave up four runs on six hits and five walks in nine innings this spring (before Monday). He had 10 total strikeouts, and it seemed his primary goal was getting used to the different-sized MLB ball. He skipped a start earlier this spring when he felt soreness in his right index finger, though that pain quickly subsided.

While it was a good spring in Port St. Lucie, Senga has not quite adjusted to the Florida spring weather. During his post-game interview with the media on Monday, Senga joked about how hot it is in Florida. After leaving Port St. Lucie, he joked he hopes to go somewhere “with a little less sun.” Unfortunately, he will have to bear the sun for a few more days because the team opens the season in sunny South Florida in Miami. Though it will be sunny (and in a dome), he did say he’s excited about trying some of the restaurants in Miami.

He’ll surely be excited for his 2023 campaign to start, too. It’ll be a campaign that will see him be a front-runner for the 2023 National League Rookie of the Year.