QUEENS, NY — Mets first baseman Pete Alonso admitted to feeling “awful” after his high throw resulted in ace pitcher Kodai Senga’s hamstring injury, which will land the right-hander on the injured list for an unspecified amount of time.
Kodai Senga injury: Mets ace heading to injured list with apparent hamstring strain, Mendoza says
With one out in the sixth inning of Thursday’s 4-3 victory over the Washington Nationals, Senga sprinted to cover the bag on CJ Abrams’ ground ball to Alonso at first. Alonso’s throw was high, forcing Senga to leap, but he managed to land on the bag for the out.
“The ball took me in the hole… [Abrams] is a pretty good runner,” Alonso said. “I was trying to get rid of the ball as quickly and as accurately as I could. The throw was over the base, but it was too high. [Senga] made an unbelievable catch, I just wish it didn’t happen.”
Senga quickly clutched at the back of his right leg and fell to the turf before gingerly exiting moments later.
“I still feel awful because, for me, I’m just trying to make a baseball play,” Alonso said after the game. “Just trying to make a play for my pitcher. I tried to make the best throw I could and it just sucks. It sucks to be involved in that. Senga is one of our guys here and it sucks. You hate to see anyone go down and it sucks being a part of that. Things happen during the season, but I wish it wouldn’t have turned out like that.”
Senga had returned to his premier form after pitching just 5.1 innings last season due to shoulder and calf injuries. With 5.2 scoreless innings of one-hit ball, he dropped his season ERA to 1.47 — a significant loss for the Mets’ rotation to now contend with.
“He’s frustrated,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “But I told him he’s going to be back and that he’s going to be an important part of this team when he gets back. The main thing is waiting for the results, see what we’re dealing with, and then we’ll attack it. He’ll be back. He’s a competitor. It sucks he has to go through it again, but we’ll get him back.”
While his Mets teammates went to check on Senga while he was lying on the field, they also encouraged Alonso, who was visibly distraught after the play.
“I’m appreciative of their support for sure, but it still doesn’t change the fact of the result of the play,” Alonso said. “OK, whatever, we got the out, but at what cost? It doesn’t feel good. I know it’s the innocence of just trying to make a play… but I wish it didn’t happen that way.”
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza revealed that Senga told team trainers that he felt the hamstring discomfort on the last step before jumping for Alonso’s throw, going as far as to instruct his translator, Hiro Fujiwara, to tell the first baseman “not to worry about it.”
“It doesn’t change how I feel,” Alonso began, “and I’m sure how he feels right now.”
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