November 15, 2022, 10:50 A.M.
SNY’s Andy Martino reports the Mets are “forging ahead” with their pursuit of Kodai Senga, the 29-year-old NPB pitching star. He said Senga is in the United States meeting with teams, and the Mets will meet with him.
Just today, MMO dissected Senga as a free agent.
November 6, 2022, 1:30 P.M.
Per Jon Morosi of MLB Network, among others, Japanese pitcher, Kodai Senga, has filed for international free agency. This means he can negotiate terms with MLB clubs as soon as Thursday.
Senga, a 29-year-old starting pitcher, has spent the past 11 seasons playing for the NPB in Japan. Since entering the league as a 19 year old, he has been arguably one of the top pitchers in the league. He owns a career ERA of 2.42 with a 104-51 record. He has spent his whole career with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.
Overall, Senga is a very decorated pitcher in terms of personal accolades. He threw the 91st regular-season no-hitter in NPB history during the 2019 season. Furthermore, he won the Triple Crown in the NPB’s Pacific League during the 2020 season posting a 11-6 record with an ERA of 2.16 and 149 strikeouts. Not to mention, he also won a Gold Medal during the 2020 Summer Olympics. In total, Senga has appeared in three NPB All-Star games (2013, 2017, 2019) and has won five Japan Series championships.
As a pitcher, Senga is said to have a mid-to-high-90-MPH fastball, where he can occasionally touch 100 MPH. He also throws a very effective pitch, that looks much like a splitter, but is referred to as a “Ghost Fork.” He has always been a starter, for the most part, in Japan, though, some wonder if he will be transitioned into a high-leverage relieving role given how filthy his pitches are and how high he can work his velocity up to.
Besides the main concern foreign pitchers have, that being how they transition from the NPB to the MLB, the only other real concern for Senga is occasional control issues. Though, his walk rate throughout his career, more so recently, has always been right around the American major-league average.
Senga’s services will be of high demand. He turned in his most effective season yet in 2022, as he posted a 1.94 ERA across 144 innings pitched. He had a 11-6 record and struck out 159 batters. Not to mention, he saw an uptick in his average velocity. Nonetheless, it will be a very interesting sweepstakes to keep an eye on.
