The Mets were once the main opponent of the Atlanta Braves in the National League East. There was a little period of time between the Nationals’ golden age and the Phillies’ most recent comeback, but it was still an entertaining close contest between the two clubs, particularly in 2022 when the race went right down to the wire.
Unfortunately, after investing enough money to buy out some of the league’s teams outright, the Mets had to ruin the fun and implode completely on themselves last season. The Mets finished 12 games below.500 and nine games out of a postseason slot due to injuries to key players and underperformance by others. Their general manager was placed on MLB’s “naughty list” and was forced to leave.
Kodai Senga’s play was one bright spot for the Mets last season, though. Though Senga hasn’t played for long enough to be a real pain in the Braves’ side (remember, the Mets were awful overall), he had a tremendous season last year, finishing second in the NL Rookie of the Year voting and sixth in the NL Cy Young race with a 2.98 ERA. Even though it hurts to acknowledge, it seems like the Mets made a wise decision in adding him.
Senga has reportedly been struck by the ailment bug, as he will begin the season on the injured list due to a shoulder problem. Regretfully, early spring training injury bulletins are nearly never good news.
Senga’s shoulder injury is a serious setback for a significant Braves opponent.
This is a shame, really, because Senga is a genuine talent and is beneficial to baseball in general, even if he does play for the worst team in the Braves’ eyes. In 166.1 innings pitched, he struck out 202 batters, contributing to MLB’s increasing global popularity.
The fact that this is a shoulder injury and there is no set timeline for his return is especially concerning for the Mets. His issue is officially known as a posterior capsule strain; in the end, injuries to the shoulder capsule prompted players like Brandon Woodruff and Kyle Wright to require surgery. If it’s only a strain, getting some rest should help. Senga might be out for a long period for the Mets, though, if rest and rehabilitation don’t help.
This affects the NL East battle for the Braves and offers Atlanta some wiggle room in a still competitive division. The Mets still have some skill on their roster and some exciting young players coming up who should help them, even though it wasn’t very probable that they would be big players at the top of the division. Although it was not a sure thing that New York would compete this year, a lot of things had to go right. Regretfully, the Mets’ “a lot had to go right” strategy hasn’t gone well at all.
