The Mets have yet to experience a single stretch this season in which their top five starters, Kodai Senga, Sean Manaea, Clay Holmes, David Peterson, and Frankie Montas, were healthy and available at the same time.
That appears to be changing this weekend, as Senga and Manaea are expected to sandwich the Mets’ three-game set in Kansas City against the Royals, in what will be their final series before the All-Star break.
Manager Carlos Mendoza disclosed that “the goal” is for Senga, who is coming back from a Grade 1 hamstring strain suffered last month, to get Game 1.
The 32-year-old right-hander was 7-3 with a 1.47 ERA before the injury, but was able to continue throwing throughout his absence. He needed just one rehab start with Double-A Binghamton — he allowed three earned runs in 3.2 innings — before getting the green light to come back.
Manaea will get the ball on Sunday in what will be his 2025 debut. He suffered an oblique injury during spring training and was initially forecasted to return in late May or early June. But he suffered a setback earlier in the regular season, and then was shut down for a couple of days due to a loose body in his throwing elbow that needed an injection.
He went 3.2 innings with Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday, in what was his final rehab start.
Holmes is also set to pitch on Sunday, though it is unknown if Manaea will work as an opener and then be relieved by Holmes or vice versa. Holmes is obviously the logical choice to come out of the bullpen, given his past as the New York Yankees’ closer before transitioning to a starter with the Mets.
Neither Senga nor Manaea has any known, strict limits in their returns.
“We have a number of pitches that we are comfortable with, but innings, not necessarily,” Mendoza said. “We’ll let the game dictate, but we have a number in mind that we want to keep it at.”
