Kodai Senga, New York Mets

Kodai Senga is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher who currently plays for the New York Mets in the Major Leagues. He was acquired by the Mets from the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks on a $75 million deal this offseason. Senga made his MLB debut on April 2, 2023, against the Miami Marlins, where he pitched 5 1/3 innings with three hits allowed, a run, and three walks, all of which were accompanied by eight strikeouts.

Senga is known for his ghost forkball, which is a forkball that stays looking like a fastball before it reaches the point of no return for a batter, at which point it floats. It might float into the lower part of the zone, it might float into the dirt. But the name comes from the disappearing act it does as it nears home plate. It just vanishes. The pitch is so effective that all eight strikeouts in Senga’s debut were Marlins batters swinging at the ghost forkball. The pitch has little rhyme or reason to its movement, and only Senga appears to know where it’s going. The way it drops off the table compared to a fastball, it looks like the pitch hits a wall.

Senga had a successful 2023 season with the New York Mets. He ended up being the Mets’ top starting pitcher, finishing with a 12-7 record in 29 starts with a 2.98 ERA. He threw 166.1 innings, giving up 126 hits, 60 runs (55 earned) and 17 home runs. He struck out 202, walked 77 and had a 1.01 WHIP. He allowed batters to hit just .208 against him. In November 2023, Senga was named a finalist for the National League Rookie of the Year award.

Before joining the Mets, Senga played for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league. He is a three-time NPB All-Star and a one-time MLB All-Star. Senga has a career record of 104-51, a 2.42 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 2.92 Strikeouts to Walks ratio over 1,340.2 innings and 275 games. He has won five Japan Series championships, two Pacific League Best Nine Awards, two Mitsui Golden Glove Awards, and a Japanese Triple Crown. Senga also pitched a no-hitter on September 6, 2019.

In summary, Kodai Senga is a Japanese professional baseball pitcher who currently plays for the New York Mets in the Major Leagues. He is known for his ghost forkball, which is a forkball that stays looking like a fastball before it reaches the point of no return for a batter, at which point it floats. It might float into the lower part of the zone, it might float into the dirt. But the name comes from the disappearing act it does as it nears home plate. It just vanishes. Senga had a successful 2023 season with the New York Mets, and before joining the Mets, he played for the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks in the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) league. He is a three-time NPB All-Star and a one-time MLB All-Star. Senga has a career record of 104-51, a 2.42 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 2.92 Strikeouts to Walks ratio over 1,340.2 innings and 275 games.