Mets' Kodai Senga Could Miss Rest of 2024 Regular Season with Calf Injury

The New York Mets announced starting pitcher Kodai Senga has been placed on the 15-day injured list with a left calf strain.

Speaking to reporters, manager Carlos Mendoza said "it's pretty fair to say" Senga will miss the rest of the regular season.

Senga made his 2024 debut on Friday against the Atlanta Braves. He missed the first four months of the season after suffering a moderate capsule strain in the back of his right shoulder during spring training.

The 31-year-old got the win after striking out nine over 5.1 innings, allowing two earned runs and two hits. However, he left the game with the calf strain after inducing an Austin Riley infield pop-up.

Senga was the Mets' ace last year, going 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA and 202 strikeouts over 166.1 innings.

Senga signed with the Mets two offseasons ago on a five-year, $75 million deal following a fantastic 11-year career with the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. He's fared quite well in the bigs, earning National League All-Star honors last year.

Senga's return appeared to come at a great time for the Mets, who have been the best team in baseball since May 29—when the team dropped to 11 games below .500.

Since then, the Mets have gone 33-15, improving to 55-48—good for first in the National League wild-card standings.