“It’s a ball I’ve never seen before”
Senga Kodai was selected by the Softbank Hawks of the Nippon Professional Baseball (NPB) as the 4th pick in the 2010 Fostering Player Draft. Senga, who first stepped on the stage of the 1st team in the 2012 season, started working as a starting pitcher from the 2016 season and recorded double-digit wins for 7 consecutive seasons.
Last season, he pitched in 22 games and recorded an ERA of 1.94 with 11 wins, 6 losses, and 156 strikeouts in 144 innings. Senga, who obtained the qualification as a free agent (FA) after the season, declared a major league challenge. And the New York Mets signed Senga for 5 years and 75 million dollars (approximately 97.1 billion won), and he succeeded in entering the big leagues.
Senga is warming up ahead of the season by participating in spring training in Clover Park, Florida. Senga faced 6 batters in live pitching and struck out 3 by throwing his main weapon, the ‘ghost fork’.
Pete Alonso, who recorded 162 hits in 597 at bats, 131 RBIs, and a batting average of 0.271 OPS of 0.870 last season, praised Senga’s “ghost fork.” “It’s got a really cool nickname for a good reason,” he said. “That ball makes a lot of players miss.” 카지노
Jeff McNeil, who became the National League batting champion with 174 hits in 533 at-bats in the 2022 season, 9 homers, 62 RBIs, a batting average of 0.326 OPS and 0.836, also praised Senga’s performance. “It’s in great shape,” he said. “This is a ball I’ve never seen before.”
USA’MLB.com’ said, “Senga had a hard time finding consistency in the ‘ghost fork’ in the early spring training because he was not used to the steeper slope of the American mound. Senga said ‘just so’ in bullpen pitching last week.” “Then Deo Senga’s teammates found it novel and exciting. Alonso said he never saw the ‘ghost poke’ that struck out him, and Senga laughed broadly.”
Meanwhile, Senga does not participate as the Japanese national team in the World Baseball Classic (WBC). It was a decision made after judging that if he raises the pace quickly with the WBC in mind, it will affect his performance after the season begins and injuries.