Kodai Senga Dominates Astros in Final Start of Impressive Spring

New York Mets right-hander Kodai Senga allowed three hits over four scoreless innings Thursday in a 6-2 win over the Houston Astros, lowering his spring ERA to 1.80.

Senga struck out four and walked one on 63 pitches, navigating a veteran Houston lineup with a fastball that touched 97.3 mph and a forkball that generated five swings and misses.

“Just to see him this early, pretty much it seems like everything is working for him,” manager Carlos Mendoza told SNY. “He’s close to peak form.”

Senga was tested in the middle innings. After Shay Whitcomb opened the third with a single, Senga retired Jose Altuve on a lineout, struck out Isaac Paredes swinging, and induced a groundout from Yordan Alvarez. In the fourth, Cam Smith doubled on a middle-middle fastball, but Senga stranded the runner by getting a pop-out from Zach Cole and striking out Christian Walker looking on a 1–2 fastball.

“That’s our ace,” superstar Juan Soto said after the game.

The outing capped a spring focused more on repeating mechanics than chasing results. Across 10 innings in three Grapefruit League starts, Senga has allowed two runs and struck out 11. His command has improved since his March debut; after missing high more than usual in his first outing, his release point on Thursday looked good, and it helped him keep his ghost fork on the same plane as his four-seam fastball.

Despite the scoreless outing, Senga indicated he is still refining his approach.

“I’m still adjusting, so I take it with a grain of salt,” Senga said through his interpreter. “As long as I’m healthy and I’m able to pitch my pitches and pitch to my ability, I think the results come along with that. I’m striving for that and that’s what I’m here to do. I came from Japan to the States to do that.”

Senga limiting damage against the Astros’ top bats points to his secondary pitches returning to their proper form. He held Yordan Alvarez hitless in two at-bats, including a groundout back to the mound in the third. With his pitch count under 70 through four innings, Senga looks to be on track to be on a normal starter’s workload by the first week of the regular season.

The Mets’ 5-0 win was backed by multi-hit performances from Bo Bichette and Luis Robert Jr., with both of Robert’s hits going for extra bases.

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