With a great outing against Arizona yesterday, Kodai Senga has lowered his ERA to 1.16 which ranks second in the NL behind countryman Yoshinobu Yamamonto of the Dodgers.
In January, before spring training had started, the Mets had a pitching rotation that on paper said that Senga was the SP1. Behind him were proven excellence in Sean Manaea, the usual hopefuls Peterson and Megill, converted reliever Clay Holmes, and reclamation projects Griffin Canning and Frankie Montas.
Manaea got hurt, and Holmes came out of the gate smoking. Canning has outperformed all expectations, and both Peterson and Megill have started to look like we always hoped they would. Meanwhile, Senga got off to a slow start and was not racking up many innings so I was beginning to think that the Mets needed to start shopping for an ace.
However, Kodai Senga has stepped up his game. In his last two starts (both against the D-Backs), he has allowed one run in 10 innings. His stats to date are: 38.2 IP, 1.16 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and .209 average against.
He is not without competition though. Clay Holmes, Griffin Canning, David Peterson, and Tylor Megill have all pitched admirably. Here are their lines:
Holmes: 36.2 IP, 2.95 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, .245 average against
Canning: 36 IP, 2.50 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, .254 average against
Megill: 36 IP, 2.50 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, .200 average against
Peterson: 38.1 IP, 3.52 ERA, 1.38 ERA, .268 average against
If this were a horse race, Senga would be ahead by a neck. Is it too close to call? Is he the staff ace and the others are pretty good follow-on acts? Do we have to wait to see what Manaea will do when he returns (soon)?
Let me know what you think.
7 comments:
Great problem to have.
Combined, they have pitched better than anyone could have imagined.
Yes, he is.
Because he is their best pitcher
And he ranks in the top 20 starters in the league
Also because of who the other Mets starters are.
He's the ace.
He pitched great, but the walks will come back to haunt him eventually. Hopefully just a blip. 5 walks and not giving up a run doesn't happen too often. Of course, the great play by Taylor, Lindor and Torrens did save his bacon
Senga #1, MeGill #2.
All 5 can lay claim to the Met's best starter. Senga is healthy and gets the early nod. Amazing that the Mets made the playoffs without Senga (or Soto). We effectively added 2 All Stars in those 2.
This is why the question is posed. Being an "Ace" implies a level of dominance that you can't wait for his turn to come around because it enhances the team's probability of winning every time on the mound. Right now, I feel good no matter who takes the mound. Need the Ace to break a losing streak? The Mets have never lost more than 2 in a row this year.
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