Kodai Senga’s role back in question after another nightmare outing: ‘You have to earn it’

David Stearns said prior to Tuesday night’s game that the Mets were going to need more consistency from their starting rotation if they hoped to turn things around. 

For the first three batters, Kodai Senga appeared to be up for the challenge. 

Senga was a much different pitcher than his previous few outings, pounding the zone with consistent heat as he struck out two Cubs en route to a perfect top of the first. 

From there, though, things quickly changed. 

The righty completely lost his groove as he loaded the bases and walked in a run before giving up a three-run blast to former Mets prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong.

Just like that New York found themselves in another early hole. 

“That’s the frustrating part,” Carlos Mendoza said. “He goes out there in that first inning and that’s the guy you hope that he’s capable of being, just blowing that fastball by people.

“Then the second inning he gets away from it, and we’re sitting there in the dugout kind of asking ourselves like what’s going on here, it happens so quick, it’s hard to explain — just frustrating.”

And the frustration only grew from there, as Senga was hurt by another free pass in the top of the fourth, with the struggling Dansby Swanson immediately following it with a two-run homer. 

He ended up being pulled without completing that frame, leaving with seven runs on his line via just three hits and a season-high five free passes in just 3.2 innings of work. 

At this point, even Senga is left searching for answers in regards to his command issues. 

“It’s hard to pinpoint,” he said via a translator. “When I’m trying to find the zone that’s when I’m not in the zone, when I’m trying to throw freely that’s when the pitches are in the zone.”

Now sitting 7.0 GB of a Wild Card spot, though, the Mets don’t have time to keep hoping for answers. 

With losses in each of his last five outings and an ugly 10.08 ERA on the season, Senga appears to back on the outside looking in at a spot in the starting rotation. 

“David was pretty clear before the game that performance matters here,” Mendoza said. 

“Having outings like this is not going to cut it, I’m pretty sure we’re going to have decisions but that ain’t gonna to do it — we need better, they know that, but we get to a point where you have to go out there and earn it.”