Photo by Ed Delany of Metsmerized

 

The New York Mets added a talented Japanese pitcher to their rotation in December of last year when they signed right-hander Kodai Senga to a five-year, $75 million deal. Senga will join a rotation that also features two aces in Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander and veterans Carlos Carrasco and Jose Quintana.

Senga took the mound on Thursday for a bullpen session at Clover Park. The Mets starter tossed 52 pitches, hit up 96 mph with his fastball, and described his outing with a smile as “so-so.”

Senga will have many adjustments to make coming from a six-man rotation and using a completely different baseball. That doesn’t even take into account living in a new country and a city he had never been to before meeting with the Mets.

The 30-year-old recently chatted with Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja on Twitter) on all of those changes and a variety of other topics.

Big Difference in Balls

The baseballs used in Nippon Professional Baseball are pre-tacked and the ones in Major League Baseball are not, and MLB has spent the last couple of seasons cracking down on adding sticky stuff to the baseball. Senga called the difference between the two balls “big” noting that the MLB ball is hard, has lower seams, and called it “slippery.”

All About Driveline

Before Senga signed with the Mets, he came over to the US to work at a Driveline facility. This was a great help to him in getting more acclimated to the baseball and giving him access to technology Senga said: “isn’t available in Japan.”

Senga talked about the fact that the metrics that were made available to him at Driveline has helped him tinker with his grips so that he will be successful the MLB ball. He specifically mentioned that he had completely changed his cutter from the one he was using last season.

Pizza Toppings

When asked about what food is his favorite since coming to America, Senga quickly answered with “pizza.” The former third baseman (played there before switching to pitcher) said his favorite toppings so far are pepperoni, sausage, and corn.