The Mets’ injury-depleted starting rotation could have two key pieces back in the fold before the All-Star break, if things continue trending in its current direction.
Both Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea, who adopted an ace role at different times throughout the last three years, could start games in this upcoming weekend’s series in Kansas City against the Royals.
Senga, who is 7-3 with a 1.47 ERA this season, threw 3.2 innings on Saturday in a rehab start for Double-A Binghamton — his first action since suffering a Grade 1 hamstring strain on June 12.
“He physically feels fine,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Hopefully, he’s making a start for us next time… We saw it when he went down, how hard it was for us. He’s a big part of this team; he’s a big part of the rotation. For us to be able to get him back this quickly, we thought when he went down, in my head, I was more like, ‘After the All-Star break.’
“Then for him to be in play for us now before we go into the All-Star break, that’s huge for us.”
Manaea has one more rehab start scheduled on Tuesday with Triple-A Syracuse before he potentially rejoins the Mets in Kansas City.
An arduous rehab process from a strained oblique resulted in a two-week setback earlier this season. He was then shut down for a few days and received a cortisone shot last week when imaging revealed a loose body in his left elbow.
The 33-year-old southpaw was throwing in the outfield at Citi Field prior to the Subway Series finale on Sunday.
He previously went three-plus innings on 60 pitches with Double-A Binghamton on Wednesday, allowing two earned runs on six hits with three strikeouts and a walk.
The Mets have also lost Tylor Megill, Griffin Canning, and Paul Blackburn to injuries, leaving the rotation with a bare-bones unit that forced Mendoza to deploy a bullpen game on Sunday against the Yankees and give Justin Hagenman his MLB debut in Friday’s Subway Series opener. Clay Holmes, David Peterson, and Frankie Montas are the only established starters currently available.
