Two years and a slew of injuries removed from his gripping debut season with the New York Mets and in North America, Kodai Senga is now going to spend the majority of the final month of the 2025 season in the minor leagues.
The 32-year-old righty consented to a demotion to Triple-A Syracuse on Friday, allowing the Mets to call up a third top pitching prospect in Brandon Sproat, where he joined Nolan McLean and Jonah Tong, to stabilize the rotation as they look to bolster their spot in the postseason.
Senga had been out of whack for the last six weeks, posting a bloated 5.95 ERA over his last eight starts and looking like a shell of the ace who had a 1.39 ERA across his first 14 appearances of the campaign.
In hopes of hitting the reset button, the Mets are sending Senga to Syracuse, where he will throw a couple of bullpen sessions before potentially getting some minor-league game action next weekend.
It provides a “more controlled environment where he’s not in the spotlight,” as Mets manager Carlos Mendoza put it.
“We have to get him back in sync,” the skipper continued. “His lower half, upper body, everything. We’re giving him time to work on the mound, get a feel for the mechanics, before we put him in the game, and then we’ll go from there.”
While this is only Senga’s third season with the Mets, he is still an All-Star-caliber veteran who did not have to give the OK on this. His contract states that he has the final decision on any potential demotion to the minors, a decision that many established pro athletes would bristle at and ultimately deny.
“So much respect for the player, but a lot of respect for the person,” Mendoza said of Senga. “Not an easy decision. This was something that he needed to give his consent. When this was presented to him, he was very open from the beginning. We presented the plan, our idea, and we wanted to give his feedback. We gave him time to talk with his people, think through the different scenarios. He came back, and he was all on board.
“Obviously disappointed, he wants to be here and help us, but he understands where he’s at physically and where we’re at as a team, and where he’s at performance-wise. We thought it was best for him to go back there.”
The door still appears open for Senga to return to the majors this season. If he is able to figure out his mechanics and returns to his elite form, the Mets would obviously welcome him back with open arms to reassume his responsibilities as the top man in the rotation heading into the postseason.
