It wasn't too long ago that quality starts with length and efficiency were the norm for Kodai Senga, who undoubtedly served as ace of the Mets' rotation during the first half of the season with a stellar 1.39 ERA. But who knows if that dependable version of him is coming back anytime soon.
At a time when length from Mets starters not named David Peterson seems to be more rare than a total solar eclipse, Senga couldn't eat enough innings in Wednesday's deflating 5-4 road loss to the division-rival Nationals. He gave up five runs (four earned) on six hits and two walks while striking out four across five-plus frames.
While the right-hander retired the Nationals in order through two innings, his struggles arrived in the third. A leadoff walk to Dylan Crews and a catcher's interference error on Luis Torrens sparked a bases-loaded rally that produced two runs on an infield single and a sac fly.
In the fourth, the Nationals tacked on another two runs with a pair of doubles and a triple, and the last extra-base hit that Senga served up was a solo home run to Josh Bell in the fifth. By the sixth, the Mets had rallied for four runs to cut their deficit to one, and Senga was taked with another inning of work. But his leash was short, as a leadoff single ended his night.
"I think I was able to attack the zone well, but I just couldn't finish them off, and that's what led to those multi-run innings," Senga said. "There's things to improve on."
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza didn't seem too discouraged by Senga's performance either, but he left pitches in the middle of the zone that the Nationals punished.
"Stuff-wise, he was good, like the velo. He just left an 0-2 to [Paul DeJong], a sweeper up in the zone, and then a couple of pitches like middle-middle," Mendoza said. "We've been asking him to compete in the strike zone, but then especially when he was ahead, today he left pitches down the middle and they made him pay… They were all over pitches in the strike zone."
Senga logged six-plus innings in six of his 14 starts before the All-Star break, and held opponents to a measly .199 average. Over his last six starts, the right-hander hasn't completed six innings even once, and his second-half ERA sits at a bloated 6.00. He just hasn't looked the same since returning from the injured list in mid-July.
His next start is scheduled to come on regular rest against the divison-rival Phillies on Monday night at Citi Field.
Torrens avoids serious hand injury
As if Brandon Nimmo's second-inning exit from Wednesday's game due to neck stiffness wasn't troubling enough, Torrens gave the Mets a pretty good scare behind the plate shortly thereafter.
After the leadoff walk to Crews in the third, Torrens injured his glove hand on a swing from Drew Millas that resulted in catcher's interference. While there was a chance of rookie backup Hayden Senger entering as a replacement, Torrens didn't leave the field with the training staff. He went on to play the remainder of the game.
"Just a little sore, but it's nothing out of the ordinary," Torrens said. "It was like a shock, just because it hit me right on the finger. But it's part of the game. I was able to finish the game, so that's good."
Torrens also felt some soreness gripping his bat, but he doesn't believe any tests on his hand are warranted. He finished 0-for-4 with a double-play groundout that ended the game.
The Mets can ill afford to lose Torrens for any stretch of time, as the team just placed Francisco Alvarez on the injured list with a disconcerting right thumb sprain. Aside from Senger, the currently don't have another catcher on the 40-man roster.
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