Kodai Senga begins to endear himself to Mets fans, gets second win of season in home debut

NEW YORK — It has not taken long for Kodai Senga to become appointment viewing for Mets fans.

The Japanese sensation's enchanted the Mets' faithful in his introduction at Citi Field

With the Mets needing an ace-like performance to keep the momentum going with Max Scherzer scuffling through two games and Justin Verlander on the shelf, Senga delivered during his home debut on Saturday afternoon.

Senga had the Marlins' number for a second time as he struck out six batters and allowed one run on three hits and three walks in six innings as the Mets clinched the series victory over the Marlins with a 5-2 win in front of 42,306 fans at Citi Field.

"I think the biggest thing part is I can throw a strike when I want to throw a strike," Senga said through interpreter Hiro Fujiwara. "I can manage the count and control my pitches well."

Senga's initiation to New York came with plenty of pleasant highlights.

Kodai Senga's mix

For years, Mets fans were enraptured by Jacob deGrom's triple-digit fastball and equally ferocious slider. Senga captivates with a different mix. He leads with a fastball that creeps near 100 mph and offsets that with his knee-buckling ghost forkball.

But the rest of his repertoire provide effective alternatives. Senga also sprinkles in a sweeper with a little more east-west movement and a cutter in the low-90s.

After throwing his fastball and forkball a nearly even mix of 32 and 26 times in his first outing, Senga led more with his fastball in his second start, throwing it 41 times or 45 percent of the time in his 90 pitches. He deployed an even blend of sweepers, forkballs and cutters. None of his 18 forkballs were put in play.

"Being a pitcher that's known for a single pitch, the forkball, I think it's really important — I had this problem in Japan as we played the same team multiple times — to mix in my pitches evenly and that was just a result of how it went today.

"Obviously, I've only thrown twice but as the season goes on, I think hitters are going to be more used to it. They're going to see the forkball. They're going to try to not swing at the forkball.""

Before the game, Buck Showalter said he was most impressed with how Senga has a "talented hand" and finds results beyond his two main pitches. The Mets manager feels like Senga has the ability to manipulate the shape of many of his pitches, and he has adapted to the change of scenery quickly.

"There's a lot of new things thrown at him, and he asks good questions," Showalter said. "He's got the alert face. He's sharp. He's another guy that likes to prove people wrong. Nobody here certainly doubts him. His stuff is not a question."

Entertainment value

Senga produced 11 whiffs in the first two innings, which was the most by any pitcher in MLB this season. His first five strikeouts came on the ghost fork and his last was on his cutter.

The Marlins' lone damage off Senga was a solo home run by Jazz Chisholm to lead off the sixth inning. As he rolled through the lineup in his six innings, the Mets' fans and production team was prepared to welcome Senga with open arms.

A collection of fans in the left-field seats hung blue signs with a ghost and fork on the railing on each of Senga's strikeouts. The Mets created a scoreboard illustration with a ghost dancing in front of Senga's name in the font of Sega to harken each of his strikeouts.

"I thought that was sick and super well-deserved," Pete Alonso said of the scoreboard graphic. "He's got something that's extremely unique. He was nasty today. He was nasty in his first start. I just want him to continue being great for us."

When Senga ended the fifth inning with a strikeout of Jon Berti, the Mets' organist played the "Ghostbusters" theme as he walked off the mound.

"Obviously very grateful, and I feel very warm and welcomed," Senga said of the fan response. "Hopefully next time I can put up more ghosts."

Pete Alonso and Eduardo Escobar's boost

There hasn't been a power outage for Alonso to start the 2023 season.

Alonso homered for the fourth time in the Mets' last three games, shooting a two-run shot to left field in the fifth inning to boost the Mets in front 3-0.

It was Alonso's fifth home run of the season as he joined the Pirates' Bryan Reynolds atop Major League Baseball. Alonso spent the afternoon as the team's designated hitter as Mark Canha drew his first start at first base since 2020. Alonso now has a team-high 10 RBI through nine games.

"I think I'm doing a really good job of not giving in," Alonso said. "Just because pitchers may throw a strike doesn't mean they may not be drivable or something I can handle. For me, I've been doing a really good job, especially the past few games, of staying in my area and then capitalizing on stuff when it is there."

After a 2-for-24 start to the season, Eduardo Escobar also got in on the act in the victory.

Escobar belted a two-run home run of his own in the bottom of the sixth inning off the Marlins' Huascar Brazoban. Escobar could have easily been 3-for-4 but he was robbed of a hit by a diving Chisholm in shallow right-center field and hit a line drive a foot from the wall in left field in the fourth.

The Mets third baseman said he has worked a lot with the hitting coaches in recent days and has been trying to "trust his hands" and not lunge to the ball. With the home run, Escobar's average slid from .083 to .107.

"I think that's the biggest thing is letting the ball travel a little bit deeper and then reacting with my hands," Escobar said through interpreter Alan Suriel.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Kodai Senga: NY Mets starter wins in home debut at Citi Field