Mets ace debuts ‘dangerous pitch’ in spring debut

Mets ace Kodai Senga accomplished something he wasn’t able to last spring on Monday — make a Grapefruit League start.

Senga looked good in his spring debut at Clover Park. He threw two scoreless innings, allowing two hits and two strikeouts, and debuted a new pitch to his arsenal, a two-seamer (sinker).

“I’m just very pleased that I’m able to get out of it healthy,” Senga told reporters. “There was a lot of things that I wanted to try out that I was able to. Just great to be out there. ...

“One thing is the consistency of the gyro slider. I’ve been working on that for a while now — some good feels here and there," he continued. “And also the sinker, I’ve been starting to practice it (and) had some good pitches here and there as well.”

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Overall, Senga threw the pitch three times in Monday’s 1-1 tie against the Miami Marlins. It generated one swing, a foul ball, and two balls.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza sees it as a great compliment to his vast arsenal, which includes a four-seamer, sweeper, slider, cutter, curveball and forkball.

“This is a pitch that you can get ground balls if it’s a pitch that’s running into righties,” Mendoza told reporters. “If that’s a pitch that he can use when he needs to, it’s a dangerous pitch because he can manipulate the baseball in a lot of different ways.”

Senga is looking to return to the pitcher he was in 2023, a down-ballow NL Cy Young Award vote-getter. In 29 starts that season, he posted a 2.98 ERA, striking out 201 batters in 166 1/3 innings.

Last season, Senga managed just 5 1/3 innings after suffering a shoulder injury on the first day of spring training. He returned for the postseason but wasn’t effective, making three appearances (two starts) with a 12.60 ERA (seven earned runs in five innings).

With right-hander Frankie Montas (lat) out until at least late May and lefty Sean Manaea (oblique) until mid-to-late April, the Mets are relying on Senga to carry the rotation.

Monday’s appearance was a good start.

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Manny Gómez may be reached at mgomez@njadvancemedia.com.