Mets RHP Kodai Senga throws 66 pitches over 4 2/3 innings in latest Triple-A rehab start

NEW YORK (AP) — Mets pitcher Kodai Senga allowed one run over 4 2/3 innings on Sunday in his third minor league rehab start.

Sidelined all season with a troublesome right shoulder, the New York right-hander threw 40 of his 66 pitches for strikes in his second start for Triple-A Syracuse. Senga allowed a pair of singles, walked two and struck out three. The run, which scored on a fourth-inning sacrifice fly, was the first allowed by Senga across his three rehab starts.

He struck out three over 2 2/3 scoreless innings July 9 and struck out six of the nine batters he faced across 2 2/3 hitless innings in his first start July 3.

“It’s about build up,” New York manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Him getting to that pitch count and then seeing how he responds tomorrow and the next day so we can make that call on what’s next for him.”

Expected to serve as New York’s ace this season, Senga has been out since early in spring training with a right shoulder capsule strain. While there continues to be no defined timetable for Senga’s return, he is expected to join the Mets’ rotation by late July or early August. The Mets are expected to transition to a six-man rotation upon Senga’s return.

“We’ve been missing him the whole year,” Mendoza said. “We want to make sure that we feel comfortable with whatever we’re doing. We want to make sure we do it right and Senga is going to have a big voice in this as well.”

Senga went 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA in 29 starts as a rookie last year in his first season with the Mets after arriving from Japan. He struck out 202 batters in 166 1/3 innings, finishing runner-up for NL rookie of the year and seventh in Cy Young Award voting.