Morning Briefing: Kodai Senga to Pitch Sunday on Regular Rest

Wendell Cruz-USA TODAY Sports

Good morning, Mets fans!

Kodai Senga will start for the Mets on Sunday in the series finale against the Blue Jays, his first start this season on regular four-day rest. Senga’s starts this year have been spaced out to give him five or six days of rest to mimic the typical schedule he pitched on in Japan. Senga is coming off of a remarkable performance in which he gave up just one hit in seven scoreless innings, throwing an even 100 pitches in that outing so it will be interesting to see if he can pitch well again, this time with less rest than normal.

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The Mets lost 3-0 in the first game of their three-game series against the Blue Jays on Friday night. Justin Verlander pitched well, giving up just one run in six innings, but former Met Chris Bassitt was lights-out, going 7 2/3 scoreless innings to hand the Mets the loss.

Per Tim Healey of Newsday, Tim Locastro was given a timetable of six to eight weeks to return to action following his thumb surgery, which would place him at a mid-to-late July return. Healy noted that Locastro has been talking with Brett Baty who suffered a similar injury last season.

Billy Eppler spoke to media on Friday about how Ronny Mauricio is “acclimating to left field,” and the plan is to use him in left field in a game eventually. Mauricio, who is a natural shortstop, has only played shortstop and second base for Triple-A Syracuse this season, and now he will be exposed to a new position.

Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reported that the Mets traded for relief pitcher Vinny Nittoli. In 16 appearances in Triple-A, Nittoli has a 3.48 ERA.

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On Lou Gehrig Day, which was celebrated across baseball on Friday, Mandy Bell of MLB.com paid tribute to Sarah Langs, who was diagnosed with ALS in 2021, with a touching video. Buster Olney of ESPN also shared Sarah’s story with a video of his own.

MLB’s monthly awards for May were announced on Friday, won by the following players:

Players of the Month: Aaron Judge (AL), Freddie Freeman (NL)
Pitchers of the Month: Nathan Eovaldi (AL), Michael Wacha (NL)
Relievers of the Month: Alex Lange (AL), Camilo Doval (NL)
Rookies of the Month: Josh Jung (AL), Spencer Steer (NL)

Steer beat out Francisco Álvarez for NL Rookie of the Month despite Álvarez’s torrent May.

According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Royals are listening to trade offers for closer Scott Barlow who has pitched to a 3.86 ERA with 29 strikeouts and 11 walks in 21 innings this year.

The Pirates traded reliever Robert Stephenson to the Rays for minor league shortstop Alika Williams.

Joey Votto, who has yet to appear in a major league game this year, will begin a rehab assignment today for Triple-A Louisville.

The Cardinals placed outfielder Lars Nootbaar on the injured list with a lower back contusion. In a corresponding move, they recalled their top prospect, Jordan Walker, from Triple-A Memphis.

The Padres reinstated Manny Machado from the 10-day injured list but placed Nelson Cruz on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain. The team also selected the contract of Alfonso Rivas and optioned José Azocar to Triple-A El Paso.