Kodai Senga was born in Gamagori, Aichi Prefecture...Began his career as a third baseman before converting to a pitcher in high school...In 2025, will use a new song called “Ghost Fork” by Japanese artist Yusuke Kamiji as his warm-up music...Is the 14th Japanese-born player to appear in at least one game for the Mets, the most by any Major League team...In 2023, became the eighth Japanese born rookie ever to be selected to an All-Star Game joining Masahiro Tanaka (2014), Yu Darvish (2012), Kosuke Fukudome (2008), Hideki Okajima (2007), Hideki Matsui (2003), Ichiro Suzuki (2001) and Hideo Nomo (1995)…Had fans vote for his uniform number with the Mets...Had worn #41 with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks...Throws a pitch called the "ghost fork," that is so named because its break gives the appearance that it disappears out of the strike zone...Has enjoyed pizza the most of the food he's tried in America...Likes cheese, pepperoni and sausage, in addition to corn...Enjoys corn as a topping because it makes the pizza sweeter...His desire to play in MLB sprouted from his experience playing against Major League stars at the 2017 World Baseball Classic...Struck out 16 and allowed one earned run over 11.0 innings in four games, earning All-Tournament Team honors...Grew up watching Yu Darvish and cites his career trajectory as a reason for wanting to play stateside.
2024
Missed nearly the first four months of the season with a right shoulder capsule strain...Made one start on July 26 against Atlanta, throwing 5.1 innings and allowing two runs on two hits with nine strikeouts and one walk before exiting with an injury...Missed the rest of the regular season with a strained left calf...The right-hander made five rehab starts, one with High-A Brooklyn and four with Triple-A Syracuse...In his five rehab starts, Senga allowed six runs over 14.0 innings and recorded 15 strikeouts...Made his first career Postseason start, after making just one start in the regular season, on Oct. 5 in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Phillies...He threw 2.0 innings allowing one run, a home run in the first inning, and recorded one walk and three strikeouts...In total, he appeared in three games in 2024 Postseason starting Game 1 of the NL Division Series against Philadelphia, Game 1 of the NL Championship Series and appeared out of the bullpen in Game 6 of the NL Championship Series against Los Angeles-NL.
2023
Finished his rookie season with a 2.98 ERA (55 ER/166.1 IP), with 202 strikeouts against 77 walks in 29 starts...Senga recorded 202 strikeouts through his first 29 career Major League games, the fourth-most by a Mets pitcher in franchise history...Only Dwight Gooden (251), Matt Harvey (217) and Noah Syndergaard (210) have recorded more during that span...His 202 strikeouts are the third-most by a Japanese born pitcher through 29 career games, trailing only Hideo Nomo (244) and Yu Darvish (221)... Senga led all major league rookies with 12 wins this season, and tied for 11th in the National League overall in that category...His 202 strikeouts also led all Major League rookies, and tied for eighth in the National League... Ranked fifth in the Majors and second in the NL with a 2.98 ERA (55 ER/166.1 IP), the fifth-lowest mark by a Mets rookie in franchise history... His 29 starts tied with Masato Yoshii for the ninth-most by a Mets rookie in a season... Became just the 11th rookie in franchise history to record double-digit wins in a season, while his 12 wins rank tied for seventh among Mets rookies... Led all rookie pitchers in bWAR (4.5) and fWAR (3.4)...He was the only rookie to qualify for the ERA title... Senga's "ghost fork" accounted for 110 of his 202 strikeouts...The pitch had a 59.5 percent whiff rate and a 28.2 percent put-away rate...Opponents managed just 18 hits in 163 at-bats ending with the forkball, a .110 batting average... Recorded 2.42 ERA (25 ER/93.0 IP) at Citi Field, the second-best home mark in the majors among qualifiers...Senga held opposing batters to a .179 average at home, the third lowest-mark in the majors among qualifiers...His 12.00 K/9 rate at home was the fifth-highest in the majors... Named to the National League All-Star team, joining Pete Alonso (2019), Dwight Gooden (1984), Jerry Koosman (1968) and Tom Seaver (1967) as the only Mets rookies selected to an All-Star Game... He is the eighth Japanese-Born rookie ever to be selected to an All-Star Game joining Masahiro Tanaka (2014), Yu Darvish (2012), Kosuke Fukudome (2008), Hideki Okajima (2007), Hideki Matsui (2003), Ichiro Suzuki (2001) and Hideo Nomo (1995)... Became the 64th pitcher whose major league debut came in a start for the Mets...Senga allowed one run over 5.1 innings on three hits, three walks and eight strikeouts in his major league debut... His eight strikeouts were tied for the fourth-most by a Japanese-born pitcher in their major league debut and tied for the third-most by a Mets pitcher in their major league debut... Had three starts of 7.0 or more innings with two or fewer hits allowed, which tied for the second-most such starts in the majors this season...Additionally it tied with Dwight Gooden for the most such starts by a Mets rookie in a single season...Only Nolan Ryan (4, 1970) and Jacob deGrom (5, 2015) have had more such starts in a single season in franchise history.
2022
Went 11-6 with a 1.94 ERA (31 ER/144.0 IP), 156 strikeouts, a 1.06 WHIP and a 0.4 HR/9 rate over 22 appearances.
2021
Went 10-3 with a 2.66 ERA (25 ER/84.2 IP), 90 strikeouts and a 1.03 WHIP in 13 outings...Hurled 3.0 scoreless innings in two appearances to help Japan earn a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (held in 2021).
2020
Was tied for the Pacific League lead with 11 wins and 149 strikeouts...Earned his second career Pacific League Best Nine Award and Mitsui Golden Glove Award.
2019
Was named an NPB All-Star for the third time in his career after he led the Pacific League with 227 strikeouts and 180.1 innings...Earned his first career Pacific League Best Nine Award and Mitsui Golden Glove Award...Threw a no-hitter with 12 strikeouts on Sept. 6 vs. Chiba Lotte Marines.
2018
Finished second in the Pacific League with 163 strikeouts and tied for third with 13 wins.
2017
Was a NPB All-Star for the second time in his career.
2016
Finished second in the Pacific League with 181 strikeouts...Established a career-best .800 winning percentage after going 12-3 over 25 outings.
2015
Went 2-1 and allowed only one run over 22.1 innings in four games (three starts).
2014
Finished third in the Pacific League with a 12.6 SO/9 rate.
2013
Earned his first career NPB All-Star selection after posting a 2.40 ERA (15 ER/56.1 IP) in 51 relief appearances.
2012
Made his NPB debut with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks.
