Sometimes a pitcher doesn’t dominate by overwhelming hitters with pure velocity—it’s the pitch they don’t see coming that breaks them.
For the New York Mets, Kodai Senga is that kind of pitcher.
Now fully healthy and finally delivering on the promise of his five-year deal, Senga is carving up lineups with one of the most unhittable pitches in baseball.
And what he’s doing in 2025 might just be the beginning of something special.
A contract that keeps aging better
Senga signed with the Mets in 2023 on a five-year, $75 million deal that raised a few eyebrows at the time.
Now, at just $15 million per season, it’s shaping up to be one of the biggest steals in baseball—especially with a 2025 opt-out and a 2028 club option looming.
After flashing promise with a 2.98 ERA over 166.1 innings in his rookie season, injuries slowed him in 2024, limiting him to just 5.1 innings.
But 2025 has been a completely different story.
An ERA that tells a bigger story
Through his first 44.1 innings this season, Senga boasts a jaw-dropping 1.22 ERA.
Even more impressive? His strikeouts are actually down slightly, sitting at 8.53 per nine innings, and his underlying metrics are mostly average.
So how is he dominating?
He’s not giving up home runs, he’s leaving 87.5% of runners on base, and most importantly—he’s weaponizing one of the most vicious pitches in the sport.
The forkball is in a league of its own
Senga’s forkball isn’t just good—it’s borderline unfair.
He throws it 26.6% of the time, and hitters are batting just .087 against it with a slugging percentage of .087.
Yes, you read that right.
It’s not just generating whiffs—it’s producing helpless swings and weak contact with a staggering 43.2% whiff rate.
The pitch drops 39.6 inches vertically with an additional 9.5 inches of horizontal movement. It moves like a wiffle ball, and batters have no clue where it’s going.
Compare that to his four-seam fastball, which is getting hit at a .292 clip with a .500 slugging percentage. The contrast makes his forkball even more devastating in sequencing.
A quiet Cy Young candidate is emerging
Senga’s early-season run is putting him in rare company.
He’s limiting damage, striking out enough to keep hitters honest, and relying on elite command of his off-speed arsenal to frustrate lineups.
If he keeps this up, he’ll find himself in serious Cy Young conversations come September.
It’s still early, but the Mets may have found the true ace they were hoping for.
This is just the beginning
For the Mets, having a pitcher like Senga—who can dominate without overpowering—is a weapon that gives them flexibility deep into the season.
With Griffin Canning and Clay Holmes already producing on favorable deals, Senga is now becoming the value ace that allows the team to keep building around him.
And with that forkball leading the way, hitters around the league will be dreading every start he makes.
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