Mets' Injured Ace Reportedly Progressing In 'Right Direction'
The New York Mets are taking things slow with their injured ace starting pitcher, who is expected to head their rotation this season.
Kodai Senga, who is shut down from throwing for three weeks due to a posterior capsule strain behind his right shoulder, received a platelet-rich plasma injection in his shoulder around Feb. 23. The Mets hope to begin ramping him up in a few weeks, as long as his shoulder responds well to the injection.
"He's strengthening that shoulder," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza told reporters on Wednesday. "He's continuing to say that he's feeling good, progressing well in the limited activity he's doing. A lot of shoulder exercises. So far, so good.
"I guess we'll wait until he starts playing catch and all that. But as of right now, he's moving in the right direction."
The belief is that Senga will need about six weeks to fully ramp up before he is ready to start pitching in games. This could put him on track to return to the Mets at some point in May, which would be best case scenario.
Senga, who signed a five-year, $75 million deal last winter with the Mets out of Japan, is coming off a first season, where he came in as the runner-up for National League Rookie of the Year.
For that, the Mets entrusted the 31-year-old righty to step into the role of being the ace of their starting rotation in his second season.
And despite Senga's injury, president of baseball operations David Stearns is optimistic that his No. 1 hurler will be able to make a significant amount of starts for the Mets this year.
