Kodai Senga injury: Mets starter leaves first start of season early after suffering left calf strain

New York Mets right-hander Kodai Senga made his long-awaited season debut Friday night only to exit his start with an injury. Senga left the game with a left calf strain, the Mets announced. He suffered the injury when he ran off the mound to get out of the way of an infield pop up in the sixth inning against the Atlanta Braves ( GameTracker ).

Here's the injury. It's an innocent enough looking play, then Senga went down holding his calf:

Prior to the injury, Senga was terrific in his 2024 debut, holding the Braves to two runs on two hits and a walk in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out nine and had thrown only 72 pitches. Senga suffered a shoulder capsule strain in spring training and missed the start of the season. He allowed six runs in 13 innings in four minor-league rehab starts before returning.

The Mets lost prized rookie Christian Scott to a UCL sprain last week , and now Senga has a calf strain. New York was planning to use a six-man rotation with Senga -- Sean Manaea , Tylor Megill , David Peterson , Jose Quintana , and Luis Severino are their other starters -- so they still have five starters, and won't necessarily need to come up with a replacement.

That said, losing Senga to the injury list would push the Mets to the limit of their pitching depth, especially with José Buttó proving so valuable in the bullpen. The club designated Adrian Houser , a viable swingman/spot starter, for assignment to clear a roster spot for Senga on Friday. They have veteran Joey Lucchesi stashed in Triple-A as depth, if necessary.

Of course, the trade deadline is Tuesday, so if the Mets intend to go outside the organization for pitching help, they have only so much time to do it. They're already in the market for bullpen help, even after adding Phil Maton and Ryne Stanek , and now perhaps a depth starter is on the shopping list. You can't have too many arms.

Senga, 31, threw 166 1/3 innings with a 2.98 ERA and 202 strikeouts his last season, his first with the Mets after spending 11 seasons with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks in Japan. New York signed him to a five-year, $75 million contract last offseason.

The Mets entered Friday's game with a 54-48 record, and a 30-13 record since the admittedly arbitrary date of June 3. That is the best record in baseball during that time.