Mets counting on healthy RHP Kodai Senga, starting with game vs. Cards

The New York Mets' Opening Day roster included 10 new players.

Yet the Mets' most intriguing player may be Kodai Senga -- a holdover who will finally make his season debut Tuesday night when he takes the mound for New York in the middle game of a three-game series against the host St. Louis Cardinals.

Senga (7-6, 3.02 ERA in 2025) is slated to oppose the Cardinals' Andre Pallante (6-15, 5.31 in 2025) in a battle of right-handers.

The Mets opened the series with a 4-2 win on Monday night when Bo Bichette had two RBIs and Clay Holmes combined with a trio of relievers on a five-hitter.

While Senga opens the season as the Mets' fifth starter, he has looked like an ace for most of his first three years with the club. Senga, a native of Japan who signed a five-year deal with New York following the 2022 season, is 20-13 with a 3.00 ERA in 52 starts.

He finished second in the Rookie of the Year balloting and made the National League All-Star team in 2023, when he was 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA and 202 strikeouts to 77 walks in 166 1/3 innings.

But Senga has battled injuries the last two seasons, when he's been limited to 23 regular-season starts. Senga started just once in 2024 due to shoulder and calf injuries and was 7-3 with a 1.47 ERA in his first 13 starts last year before suffering a right hamstring injury while covering first base against the Washington Nationals on June 12.

Senga returned after a month but went 0-3 with a 5.90 ERA in his last nine starts before ending the season in Triple-A Syracuse. The Mets, who had the best record in baseball when Senga got hurt, were eliminated from playoff contention on the final day of the season.

Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said at his postseason press conference that he "... think(s) that would be foolish" to expect Senga to make 30 starts in 2026. But Senga, who battled mechanical woes throughout last season, said he felt more confident following winter workouts. He further opened eyes by posting a 1.86 ERA with 11 strikeouts over 9 2/3 innings in Grapefruit League action.

"I am excited because of what he's shown in spring training," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said, "The way he threw the ball, how he bounced back -- just the smile on his face, the interaction that I'm having with him."

Pallante also struggled to establish consistency during his first full season as a starter in 2025, when he finished 49th in ERA among the 52 pitchers who threw at least 162 innings.

The right-hander had two starts in which he allowed one hit over seven scoreless innings, including a gem against the Miami Marlins on July 28 that lowered his ERA to 4.62. But Pallante went 0-8 with a 7.09 ERA in his final 10 starts, during which he allowed at least five runs six times.

Pallante spent the winter diversifying his pitch mix, which now includes a renewed emphasis on his curveball as well as a new changeup. He posted a 2.57 ERA with 11 strikeouts to five walks over 14 innings in four Grapefruit League starts.

"I'm doing a whole lot better with (the changeups) in my bullpen and my in-between work," Pallante said following a start against the Marlins on March 14. "Hopefully, just keep going off that and have it ready to go when the season starts."

Senga is 2-1 with a 2.33 ERA in three career starts against the Cardinals. Pallante is 0-2 with a 5.32 ERA in 10 games (three starts) against the Mets.

--Field Level Media