Kodai Senga dominant in third rehab start as he nears Mets return

Kodai Senga is nearing his long-awaited return.

The rehabbing right-hander made his third minor league start on Sunday, and pitched well. Over 4 ²/₃ innings, he threw 66 pitches — 40 for strikes — allowed two hits, walked two and struck out three for Triple-A Syracuse.

“I’m definitely progressing,” Senga told reporters through a translator. “Obviously not perfect, but it’s getting there, and I was able to get my pitches in. So it’s good.”

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The plan, according to manager Carlos Mendoza, was for Senga to throw around 65 pitches and then see how he responds in the days following the outing before the Mets decided how to proceed

. He was on four days’ rest to get in the start before the All-Star break, although the Mets plan to give him extra rest in between starts upon his return.

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Senga used all of his pitches and sat in the mid-90’s with his fastball on Sunday. He retired the first seven batters he faced and topped out at 97 mph with his fastball. The Mets have yet to say whether Senga will return to the big-league club or make another start at the minor league level. It remains something team higher-ups are discussing.

“I think I’ve been able to do everything I’ve wanted to do in the past three starts,” Senga said. “It’s obviously different in the big leagues. The amount of adrenaline is different. The feel will be different, too. It’s something I can only get in the big leagues. But, up until this point, I’m very happy.”

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The Japanese righty has yet to pitch for the Mets this season due to shoulder and triceps injuries. He shined as a rookie last year, going 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA and finished seventh in the Cy Young Award voting.

Getting him back would be a major boon for the surging Mets, who plan to go to a six-man rotation when Senga returns.

“Huge, they saw it last year, and he’s a big piece of this team and we’ve been missing him the whole year,” Mendoza said after the Mets closed the first half of the season with an 8-5 loss to the Rockies at Citi Field. “I just briefly got a report that he went 4 ²/₃ [innings] and looked good. Now we have to wait and see how he’s going to respond the next couple of days and see what the next step will be. But everybody’s looking forward to getting him back here.”

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