07/26/24 10:53:00
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07/26 22:51 CDT Kodai Senga strains left calf in season debut after missing
Mets' first 102 games with hurt shoulder
Kodai Senga strains left calf in season debut after missing Mets' first 102
games with hurt shoulder
By JERRY BEACH
Associated Press
NEW YORK (AP) --- Kodai Senga's injury-delayed season debut for the New York
Mets was cut short after 5 1/3 innings and 73 pitches when he strained his left
calf while pitching in an 8-4 win over the Atlanta Braves on Friday night.
After inducing Austin Riley to pop up leading off the sixth, Senga pointed
toward Pete Alonso and began sprinting off the mound to clear room for the
first baseman. The 31-year-old right-hander grabbed his left calf and bounced
for a couple steps before falling.
Senga held his calf as he was surrounded by catcher Francisco Alvarez, manager
Carlos Mendoza, his interpreter and an athletic trainer. Senga and the trainer
rubbed Senga's calf before Senga got up, exchanged hugs and handshakes with
teammates on the infield and limped off.
He was to have an MRI on Saturday.
"You hate to see him go down like that, especially after what he's been through
the whole year," Mendoza said. "People will step up if he's down, but we've
just got to wait and see what we're dealing with."
Senga, who missed the first 102 games with a right shoulder capsule strain,
allowed just two hits --- including Adam Duvall's two-run homer in the second
inning --- while striking out nine. He retired his final 10 batters.
Runner-up to Arizona's Corbin Carroll for NL Rookie of the Year last season,
Senga was 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA in 29 starts after signing a $75 million,
five-year contract.
Senga began a minor league injury rehabilitation assignment on July 3 and went
0-0 with a 4.15 ERA in four starts, three for Triple-A Syracuse and one for
Class A Brooklyn.
Right-handed reliever Eric Orze was recalled from Triple-A Syracuse and
emerging reliever Dedniel Nez was put on the 15-day injured list with a right
pronator strain. Right-handers Adrian Houser and Shintaro Fujinami were
designated for assignment.
Nez, 2-0 with a 2.43 ERA and one save in 24 games, had an MRI that didn't
reveal any elbow ligament damage, Mendoza said. The 28-year-old right-hander
began feeling tightness following back-to-back appearances at Miami last
Saturday and experienced discomfort again Wednesday,
Houser, acquired from Milwaukee with outfielder Tyrone Taylor on Dec. 20, was
1-5 with a 7.84 ERA and one save in seven starts and 16 relief appearances. He
opened 0-3 with an 8.16 ERA in his first six starts before working himself into
a late-inning bullpen role by going 1-1 with a 2.84 ERA in 12 appearances from
May 10 through June 30.
Hauser was scored upon in all five of his outings this month with a 9.00 ERA.
"Even when we put him in the bullpen, he was always willing to take the
baseball and do whatever the team needed," Mendoza said. "He was such a
professional. It was just hard for him to find that consistency."
Fujinami signed to a $3.35 million, one-year deal and opened the season with
Syracuse. He was recalled and placed on the 15-day injured list on May 13 with
a strained right shoulder, then walked eight in 8 2/3 innings over nine rehab
appearances since June 25.
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