Kodai Senga had a great comeback, until one wrong step functionally ends his season. A Grade III strain in the belly of the muscle will cost him eight to twelve weeks, with the end of the regular season coming in eight. Even a good rehab would make it almost impossible to ramp back up, making this a nearly lost season for Senga and the Mets.
Senga’s calf strain is not near the Achilles, nor is it going to be addressed surgically unless something goes very wrong in the rehab. That’s possible, but not likely. Muscles do heal and since this shouldn’t affect the Achilles, any residual weakness can be addressed by the off-season program.
If there’s an upside, it’s that Senga should have a relatively normal off-season. The calf strain should heal early in the off-season, what would normally be a shutdown period or de-load. By the time he’s ready to start the normal off-season, he’ll be healthy and well rested. As well, the shoulder should be no issue at all, since it’s healed now and won’t be tested by the stretch run.
There’s no way to replace Senga, as he showed in the few innings that will make up his 2024 season. However, the Mets have done it all year and perhaps built towards the next winning Mets club. We’ll see if a quirky injury, one bad step, changes what feels like a long term plan for the Cohen-era Mets.
I’ll have more of this on Monday in Under The Knife.
Second season in a row that the Mets pitching has been dramatically impacted by a single bad step.