Kodai Senga ‘100 percent’ ready for Game 1 against vaunted Dodgers
Kodai Senga survived his return to the Mets’ rotation, but now the spotlight is larger and the stakes even higher.
The Mets will open the NLCS on Sunday in Los Angeles against the Dodgers with Senga as their starting pitcher, David Peterson and others behind him, and hope it’s the right formula for another fast start to a postseason series.
It worked last weekend, when the Mets received two innings from Senga, in his return from the injured list, and strong relief before rallying late against the Phillies to win Game 1 of the NLDS.
Ideally, the Mets will receive three or four innings this time from Senga, tasked with handling a star-studded lineup that includes Shohei Ohtani, Mooke Betts and Freddie Freeman.
“I’m going until they take the ball away from me, and I am going to go at 100 percent until then,” Senga said through his interpreter Saturday at Citi Field during a team workout.
“There’s a lot of great hitters in [their] lineup, and if I leave a ball over the plate, they are probably going to hammer it … and that goes for a lot of hitters around the league.”
Senga received that reminder last Saturday, when Kyle Schwarber homered leading off the game for the Phillies.
Follow The Post’s coverage of the Mets’ playoff run:
- Was this the end of Pete Alonso’s Mets tenure?
- Vaccaro: This has to become the new standard for Mets
- Gutsy Mets lived on the edge too long
- Mets run out of playoff magic as Dodgers send them packing in crushing fashion
It was the only run allowed by Senga over his 31-pitch outing.
Manager Carlos Mendoza announced Sean Manaea as the Game 2 starter.
Luis Severino’s spot has not been officially announced, but the right-hander told The Post he expects to start Game 3, which would also position him for a potential Game 7.
That would leave Jose Quintana in line for Game 4 at Citi Field.
“From the beginning we wanted to put our guys in what we felt was the best position to have success considering where they are physically, some of the innings, who needs extra days,” Mendoza said.
In Senga’s case it came down to pitching him as closely to his normal routine of every sixth or seventh day.
But that script will change for a potential Game 5, when Senga would be pitching on the fifth day.
“I’m ready for anything,” Senga said. “I don’t anticipate getting to 100 pitches [Sunday] and how many days I have in between, it doesn’t matter at this point. We need to win the game, so whenever they call on me I’m ready.”
Just the fact the Mets are getting anything from Senga in October is a bonus after his regular season was limited to 5 ²/₃ innings pitched.
The right-hander didn’t pitch for the Mets until July after he was diagnosed with a shoulder strain in spring training.
Then upon his return he sustained a high-grade calf strain that cost him the final two months of the regular season.
“There is definitely tension inside myself compared to the other pitchers that have fought throughout the entire year,” Senga said. “I haven’t been able to do that, so I really need to be able to continue to contribute and do a job in the following games.”
The fact the Mets can use Peterson in a piggyback role eases the potential burden on the bullpen as a whole.
The lefty Peterson has pitched 6 ¹/₃ scoreless innings over three relief appearances this postseason.
The Dodgers needed a Game 5 of the NLDS on Friday against the Padres to advance, but had the benefit of remaining at home.
The Mets chartered to Southern California following their late-morning workout.
“They are really good — it’s not a secret,” Mendoza said. “That’s a really good team and a lot of superstars, and they are deep and they faced a lot of adversity, just like us — lot of injuries to their pitching staff especially — and they found a way.”
