NEW YORK — Mets right-hander Kodai Senga, the major league ERA leader, will be placed on the injured list after suffering a right hamstring strain in Thursday’s 4-3 win over the Washington Nationals.
“He’s going to get an MRI tomorrow, we’ll see the severity of it,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “But he’s going to be on [the] IL here. So we’ve just got to wait and see what we’re dealing with.”
Senga allowed just two base runners in the first 5⅓ innings before racing to cover first on CJ Abrams’ grounder to Pete Alonso.
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According to Mendoza, Senga said he felt his hamstring grab one stride before he made a leaping grab of Alonso’s high throw.
Senga touched the bag with his right foot on his way down. He stumbled upon landing and reached for the back of his right leg before hopping and eventually tumbling to the ground.
Senga was visited by Mendoza, a trainer and his interpreter before being surrounded by teammates. He got up and walked off the field on his own, albeit with a slight limp.
Alonso has struggled making accurate throws to pitchers covering first base this season, but Senga relayed to Alonso that he was injured before he reached for the toss.
“I talked to [Alonso] right away as soon as the inning was over — I went up to him and I was like hey, man, this is baseball, it happens,” Mendoza said. “And then Senga went in, he sent the translator and basically told him, hey, I felt it on the step before the jump, so tell him not to worry about it.”
Alonso remained downcast after the game.
“I still feel awful,” Alonso said. “I tried to make the best throw I could and it just sucks. It sucks to be involved in that, Senga, he’s one of our guys here and it sucks. You hate to see anyone go down, Yeah, it sucks being a part of that.”
With Senga headed to the IL, the Mets are calling up right-hander Max Kranick, a source confirmed. Kranick has a 3.51 ERA in 22 relief appearances for the Mets this season. He was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse on June 3. The Athletic first reported the news.
Paul Blackburn, who blanked the Los Angeles Dodgers over five innings in his season debut June 2, is the most likely candidate to replace Senga in the rotation next Wednesday against the Atlanta Braves.
Frankie Montas (right lat) and Sean Manaea (right oblique) are each on minor league rehab assignments recovering from injuries they suffered in spring training.
“I keep saying it. Injuries happen,” Mendoza said. “We feel for him but nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. We’ve got people coming and the guys that are healthy now, they will continue to step up.”
The 5⅔ scoreless innings of one-hit ball lowered Senga’s ERA to 1.47. Left-hander Jose Castillo entered with the Mets leading 4-0.
The leg injury is the second in as many seasons for Senga, who suffered a left calf strain in his only regular-season start last July 26. After missing the first 102 games because of a right shoulder strain, Senga gave up two runs in 5⅓ innings against the Braves before he was injured sprinting off the mound to clear room for Alonso to catch a popup by Austin Riley.
Senga returned to make three appearances, including two brief starts, in the playoffs.
“I just spoke with him — obviously frustrated, but I told him he’s going to be back and he’s going to be an important part of this team when he gets back,” Mendoza said Thursday. “Sucks that he’s got to go through it again, but hey, we’ll get him back.”
