Reese Kaplan -- Sometimes New Acquisitions Do Perform as Expected

It's always easy to sit back and pick on the things that have gone wrong for the Mets when they miraculously do not win every single game they play.  That level of performance seems to be the only one that would click with a great many fans (yet they'd still likely find criticisms regarding individual performances or managerial strategy).  

Right now the Mets are entering Sunday with a winning record and 1 game out of first place.  Despite the disappearing act in Milwaukee they are feasting on the Marlins and hopefully have righted the ship.

In his past start (second victory against the Marlins) he showed he could punch out the opposition 1-2-3 when necessary.  He gave up a few hits (including a leadoff home run in the middle of the game) but thus far he has demonstrated he is indeed likely the pitcher the Mets thought they were getting when Billy Eppler and company reached out to him to lure him to Queens.  

Many baseball fans are enthusiastic when they find a pitcher who does something a little bit different.  Remember the way in which knuckleballers like Jeff Innis and others manhandled the opposition while not throwing the ball at triple digit speed?  How about when Bartolo Colon used excellent control and a somewhat deceptive delivery to pitch effectively into his 40s?  

Then there were the guys who mastered the screwball, threw 100+ mph or otherwise had a distinctive skill that made them tough opponents for batters.  Hell, John Franco made the end of his career about getting guys to swing at the illusion of a strike and as such they made very weak contact most of the time.   

What makes Senga effective right now is that there isn't much of a book on him by American baseball scouts, so batters are not as well versed in what to expect as they would be had he spent the first decade of his career in the USA and Canada instead of in Japan.  When you throw in a pitch like the ghost fork that American batters have not seen, it gives Senga an edge as people start to reconsider how best to approach this 30 year old newcomer.  

As the Mets continue to work with Senga to get accustomed to the size of the ball and placement of the stitches that differ from what he'd experienced playing for the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.  He will get a crash course in American hitters from the pitching coaches on staff and through a translator will struggle as he learns how best to communicate with his English and Spanish speaking teammates.  

For now while there are numerous issues causing anxiety for fans, media and the team personnel, it's nice to see one of the offseason moves starting off in the right way.  Until the rest of the pitching rotation recovers from health or performance issues, every good inning pitched by Senga is doubly important for the good of his team.  Thus far it appears the Mets made a shrewd acquistion.