3rd in National League ERA, 7th in strikeouts, and tied for 12th in wins. No one expected him to do this well in his debut season in the major leagues.
New York Mets right-handed pitcher Kodai Senga (30). He has been pitching full-time since his first year without any injuries. Among the New York Mets pitchers, he was the only pitcher to appear in 27 games while playing every part of the starting rotation.
When it was confirmed that he would advance to the major leagues last off-season, his injury history was discussed, but it was unfounded. Major League rookie Senga is the New York Mets ace this season.
Senga earned his 11th win against the Arizona Diamondbacks on the 15th (Korean time). He took the mound in a home game held at New York City Field, allowing 2 hits and no runs in 6 innings.
He got his second hit in the top of the sixth inning, off leadoff hitter Emmanuel Rivera. He gave up two walks and was on the verge of having the bases loaded with two outs, but he hit No. 4 Christian Walker with a fly ball to center field and completed a scoreless game. He faced 22 batters and threw 103 pitches, striking out 10 and walking two.
On August 20th, they won their 10th game against the St. Louis Cardinals and added a win in 4 games.
The major leagues paid attention to Senga’s strikeout ability from the beginning of the season. He has recorded 10 or more strikeouts in three of the last four games.
On August 26th against the LA Angels, he pitched 6⅔ innings with 10 strikeouts, and against the Seattle Mariners on September 2nd, he pitched 7 innings with 12 strikeouts. He holds a strikeout parade with a ‘ghost forkball’ that suddenly disappears in front of the batter. He faced 648 batters in 155⅓ innings, striking out 191. With a strikeout rate of 11.07, he ranked 4th in the National League and 7th in strikeouts.
Hideo Nomo (LA Dodgers), Daisuke Matsuzaka (Boston Red Sox), and Yu Darvish (Texas Rangers) are the only Japanese pitchers to exceed 200 strikeouts in their first year in the major leagues. He was 9 away from striking out 200.안전놀이터
The pace is very good in the second half of the season. All of his last six games have been quality starts (6+ innings as a starter, 3 earned runs or fewer). He pitched 38⅔ innings and had an ERA of 2.09. He lowered his season ERA to 2.95. He is 3rd in the National League and 4th overall.
Some American media outlets are mentioning Senga not only as Rookie of the Year but also as a candidate for the Cy Young Award.
Senga, who played as the Softbank Hawks ace, signed a five-year contract with the New York Mets at the end of last year for $75 million, with an average annual salary of $15 million.