Kodai Senga might not have ended up with the prettiest line of his career on Friday. But he did take a step in the right direction.

Especially after being called upon last-minute to start in place of Freddy Peralta, after numerous poor performances had him relegated to the bullpen, Senga stepped in and did his job for four innings before losing steam in the fifth. It was his first start since June 23. He threw 49 pitches in four-plus innings.

For the four complete innings he threw, he was in full control.

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Senga’s reputation has plummeted so much that the pitcher he was only a few years ago has become such an afterthought. But Senga displayed a little flash of what he used to be. He retired the first seven batters he faced, striking out four of them.

A one-out double in the third inning was the only hit against Senga through four innings.

He leaned on his four-seam fastball, which was up to 98 mph. He also threw his signature forkball 11 times and got two swings-and-misses on it. In a small sample, he mixed in slightly more sweepers and sinkers than usual while using his cutter more sparingly. Of the five cutters he threw, though, two of them were swung on and missed.

Senga’s outing was eventually plagued by what’s hurt him all year, and, to an extent, throughout his career: walks. He walked the first two batters in the fifth. After surrendering a double that gave the Marlins a 1-0 lead, Senga’s outing came to an end.

Xzavion Curry didn’t do him any favors, giving up two more hits. Both of the extra runs were charged to Senga. So he ended up allowing three runs in four innings, which doesn’t tell the full story of how his evening went.

The thing about Senga this year is that he hasn’t necessarily lost his stuff. He’s still striking out 10.68 batters per nine innings, which is slightly better than his career mark. His fastball has averaged 96.2 mph this year, the highest mark of his career. He can still bring it, and that’s what he did for the first four innings on Friday.

But when Senga’s not striking batters out, nearly everything has gone wrong for him. Even at his best, his command was never elite — a shade above four walks per nine — but now the problem is magnified with that number going above six. Home runs have been a big issue, too, with 2.42 per nine. His opponent average is .269, up from a career .221 mark. All of that is why his ERA is 8.66, and why he lost his guaranteed spot in the rotation.

It’s all a bit mystifying.

But perhaps Friday’s outing showed that there’s still something in the tank. It would be one thing if his velocity was way down and he wasn’t getting strikeouts; that would likely mean he’d really lost it. But even through his struggles, he’s continued to throw hard and strike batters out, which means there’s still some ability there even if he’s out of whack in other areas.

If Peralta gets traded, which looks quite likely, there might be more opportunities like this one for Senga in the near future. If he does get a permanent spot back, he’ll have to stretch out his innings again and rediscover his endurance. It’s a lost year for Senga, and it’s a lost year for the Mets, but maybe these last two months will give him a chance to find something again.