Mets provide positive update on ace Kodai Senga ahead of Opening Day

The New York Mets were dealt potentially season-altering news when they found out that their ace, Kodai Senga, was dealing with a shoulder injury. Fortunately, the injury appeared to be relatively minor and Senga would only miss a portion of the season, but the Mets still had a tough task ahead of them competing without the reigning NL Rookie of the Year runner-up.

Senga had been resting for weeks since the diagnosis came about, but now manager Carlos Mendoza reported that a follow-up MRI revealed no inflammation in his shoulder.

"Inflammation is gone," Mendoza said. "So he's pretty much cleared from the doctor."

Kodai Senga set to throw within the next week, per Carlos Mendoza

Senga will open the season on the injured list, as expected, but there's a chance he'll begin throwing before the Mets begin their season on March 28 against the Milwaukee Brewers as long as he shows that he has regained strength in that injured shoulder. If all goes well and no setbacks occur, Senga might return to their rotation sometime in May, which would be huge for a Mets team trying to compete for a postseason spot.

Senga is a crucial piece of the puzzle for the Mets because the rest of their starting rotation leaves a lot to be desired. It's a rotation built mostly of middle or back-end of the rotation type of guys. They're not awful, but they lack that star power that Senga has.

The Mets have been extremely cautious with their right-hander throughout this process, already delaying his return to throwing once to be completely sure he's ready to do so. The hope with that is that there are no setbacks.

This Mets team with a healthy Senga and the new addition of J.D. Martinez can seriously compete for one of the three Wild Card spots in the NL. Expectations are obviously lower than they have been in recent years, but Senga can be the difference between playoff baseball and no playoff baseball in Queens.