Kodai Senga’s long-awaited Mets return is finally here

The Mets had hoped Kodai Senga would be their Opening Day starter this season, but they’ll take him now.

The right-hander is due to make his season debut Friday against the Braves at Citi Field after being sidelined since spring training with a strained shoulder.

“We’re all excited,” Carlos Mendoza said before the Mets opened a series against Atlanta on Thursday night. “It’s been a long road for him and all of us. I’m glad we’re finally getting a guy back here that’s going to be a huge help for us.”

Senga is coming off a rough final minor league rehab start at Triple-A Syracuse, his fourth since recovering from the injury.

Pitching coach Jeremy Hefner said he was unconcerned about the final outing at Syracuse, in which Senga allowed five runs on eight hits in three innings .

Mets place emerging reliever Dedniel Nunez on IL, oust Adrian Houser in roster shakeup

“He was working on some grips,’’ Hefner said of the last tuneup. “He’s fine and ready to go.”

The Mets were encouraged by the bullpen session that Senga threw Wednesday and know what he means to the rest of the rotation.

“I’m trying to temper my expectations,” Hefner said. “He’s healthy and feels good, but it’s still kind of his first start of the season. So he could go out, throw seven innings and punch out 12 or it could be a grind. But he impacts everyone else because of what he can do.”

The Mets have occasionally struggled with getting length from their starters this season.

Only Thursday’s starter, Luis Severino, went longer than five innings the last time through the rotation.

“With Senga, he can give you six or seven innings every time out,’’ Hefner said. “What that does for the bullpen and even giving confidence to some of the other starters, it’s invaluable.”

Brian Snitker calls out Braves outfielder for ‘unacceptable’ mistake that preceded game-ending gaffe

Senga exceeded most expectations a year ago after signing a five-year, $75 million deal with the Mets.

In what was otherwise a mess of a season in which Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander were traded away before the deadline and Carlos Carrasco, Tylor Megill and David Peterson all struggled — with Jose Quintana injured for much of the year — Senga rolled along.

He led the team in most pitching categories.

Now that he’s back and clearly more comfortable pitching in a six-man rotation, the Mets will go with Tylor Megill in Christian Scott’s spot, with Scott on the injured list with a sprained UCL.

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR STARTING LINEUP NEWSLETTER

“Having Senga around is gonna help everyone in the rotation,’’ Hefner said of Severino, Quintana, Peterson and Sean Manaea.

Of moving Megill into Scott’s slot in the rotation, Mendoza said it was “an easy decision” because of the fact Megill had been built up at Syracuse and another option, Jose Butto, has become an important part of the bullpen.

Senga, 31, should also provide some consistency to the rotation. He allowed more than three runs in just four of his 29 starts last season.

Mendoza has mentioned several times he’s looking forward to actually seeing Senga pitch live in a game, since he never saw him last year when he was the Yankees bench coach and Senga was shelved early this spring.

And the Mets will be counting on Senga to be another asset as they’ve overcome their poor first two months of the season and seem poised to be a wild-card threat .

The Mets entered Thursday a season-high five games over .500 after another sweep of the Yankees in the Subway Series, with three straight wins.

Adding their ace should only help.

For the latest in sports, top headlines, breaking news and more, visit nypost.com/sports/