Pete Alonso is having a resurgent season with the bat for the New York Mets. Based on how he's performed offensively, it wouldn't be surprising to see him in the MVP conversation by the time the regular season comes to an end. With the glove, though, Alonso has never been great, particularly as a thrower. His throwing hurt the Mets in a big way in a game earlier this season against the New York Yankees, and now, might have just cost the Mets their ace.
Kodai Senga is coming out of the game with the trainer after appearing to injure himself completing a putout at first pic.twitter.com/b1NPkEJAqM
— SNY (@SNYtv) June 12, 2025
Senga was in the midst of a masterpiece and got CJ Abrams to hit a weak ground ball right to Alonso. The first baseman fielded the ball and threw it on target but a bit high to Senga who was set to cover first base. They got the out, but it came at an enormous price. Senga immediately grabbed his hamstring and wound up departing the game.
This is the one thing the Mets could ill afford.
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Pete Alonso's throwing woes came back to bite the Mets again
Alonso's defense has been oft-criticized over the course of his career. Some of that criticism has been fair, some of it has not been. For example, he does a tremendous job preventing errors by scooping throws in the dirt from his infielders. His throwing, though, has always been an issue, and it's getting harder to ignore.
To be fair, throwing for a first baseman isn't as important as any other position. Still, there are instances where throwing is a must, and Alonso, for whatever reason, just continues to have trouble making good tosses.
It's easy to disregard his throwing struggles when the rest of his defense isn't costing the Mets and his bat is as good as it's been, but now, we see one major consequence that poor throwing can bring.
All Alonso and the Mets can hope for now is that this doesn't cost them their ace. Senga was able to limp back to the dugout on his own power, and this injury wasn't to the same leg that cost him to miss substantial time last season, but still - any injury to their ace is one the Mets simply cannot afford.
Mets projected rotation without Kodai Senga
As of now, we don't know what the story is with Senga. He could've had a minor cramp, and he could've suffered a serious injury. If Senga has to miss time, though, this is what the Mets' rotation might look like.
Mets Rotation Order | Pitcher |
|---|---|
1 | Clay Holmes |
2 | Tylor Megill |
3 | Griffin Canning |
4 | David Peterson |
5 | Paul Blackburn |
Senga entered the day with a league-leading 1.59 ERA and had thrown 5.2 scoreless innings in Wednesday's contest before departing. Losing him, a pitcher who is clearly in the NL Cy Young conversation, hurts. He's irreplaceable. Still, while losing him hurts, the Mets do have a decent amount of depth.
Taking Senga's spot in the rotation if he has to miss time would be Paul Blackburn, who threw five scoreless innings on the road against the Los Angeles Dodgers in his only start of the season before being moved to the bullpen. Blackburn as a No. 5 starter is good enough, and the Mets have a good amount of depth behind them. Both Frankie Montas and Sean Manaea are on their way back from the IL, and exciting prospects like Nolan McLean, Brandon Sproat, and Blade Tidwell are in Triple-A.
Still, losing Senga for any amount of time is bound to hurt the Mets. Their entire rotation has been great, but he's been on another level. Hopefully, whatever he's dealing with isn't too severe.