{"id":34812,"date":"2025-02-18T01:53:53","date_gmt":"2025-02-18T01:53:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812"},"modified":"2025-02-18T01:53:53","modified_gmt":"2025-02-18T01:53:53","slug":"breaking-mets-carlos-mendoza-cant-hide-excitement-after-pitchers-effortless-live-bp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Mets’ Carlos Mendoza can\u2019t hide excitement after pitcher\u2019s \u2018effortless\u2019 live BP"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\n
\"Kodai<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
\n

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. \u2014<\/b> Mets starter Kodai Senga is already ahead of where he was last spring.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Senga through a live bullpen, leaving manager Carlos Mendoza and pitching coach Jeremy Hefner impressed. The 31-year-old right-hander threw 16 pitches and touched 96 mph on the radar gun, walking off the mound with a happy smile.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe fact that he\u2019s facing hitters this early in camp, that\u2019s a good sign,\u201d Mendoza told reporters. \u201cIt was just effortless. I was asking for the velo and with the way the ball was coming out, using all of his pitches already, the delivery \u2014 everything. It looked good.”<\/p>\n

By this point last spring, Senga had already suffered a right posterior capsule strain. It was the beginning of a long season for the Japanese native, who managed to throw just 5 1\/3 regular season innings before injuring his calf.<\/p>\n

If healthy, Senga figures to be the team\u2019s No. 1 starter this season. This isn\u2019t important, Mendoza says, as long as he\u2019s healthy.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe doesn\u2019t have to be the hero or feel like he\u2019s the ace of the staff,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cWe got some options, and we like those guys at the front end of the rotation. I think it just comes down to, get ready for the year, get ready for the season (and) help us win baseball games. And we\u2019re going to do that if you\u2019re able to take the baseball every time we ask you to take the baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Senga\u2019s first big league season in 2023, he posed a 12-7 record with a 2.98 ERA in 29 starts, earning an All-Star nod and NL Cy Young Award votes.<\/p>\n

If he can replicate that type of season, the Mets rotation will have a true No. 1 ace, something the team failed to obtain this offseason. It would be a load of pressure off starters like left-handers Sean Manaea and David Peterson, Clay Holmes, who is converting into a starter, and right-hander Frankie Montas.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This Mets right-hander is key to pitching staff this season<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":34813,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-34812","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nBREAKING: Mets' Carlos Mendoza can\u2019t hide excitement after pitcher\u2019s \u2018effortless\u2019 live BP - NEWS USA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Mets' Carlos Mendoza can\u2019t hide excitement after pitcher\u2019s \u2018effortless\u2019 live BP - NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This Mets right-hander is key to pitching staff this season\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"NEWS USA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-18T01:53:53+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-73.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1300\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"MsNga\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"MsNga\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812\",\"name\":\"BREAKING: Mets' Carlos Mendoza can\u2019t hide excitement after pitcher\u2019s \u2018effortless\u2019 live BP - NEWS USA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-73.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-18T01:53:53+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-18T01:53:53+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7d8919f80fe19b5d17fd5541862a7b37\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-73.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-73.jpg\",\"width\":1300,\"height\":1600},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BREAKING: Mets’ Carlos Mendoza can\u2019t hide excitement after pitcher\u2019s \u2018effortless\u2019 live BP\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"NEWS USA\",\"description\":\"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7d8919f80fe19b5d17fd5541862a7b37\",\"name\":\"MsNga\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ddc5cc36b52e56e3c9aa09d60c7293d0b8a7d5eb4bfe93f637ffa8cb25ea8ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ddc5cc36b52e56e3c9aa09d60c7293d0b8a7d5eb4bfe93f637ffa8cb25ea8ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"MsNga\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=5\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BREAKING: Mets' Carlos Mendoza can\u2019t hide excitement after pitcher\u2019s \u2018effortless\u2019 live BP - NEWS USA","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BREAKING: Mets' Carlos Mendoza can\u2019t hide excitement after pitcher\u2019s \u2018effortless\u2019 live BP - NEWS USA","og_description":"This Mets right-hander is key to pitching staff this season","og_url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812","og_site_name":"NEWS USA","article_published_time":"2025-02-18T01:53:53+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1300,"height":1600,"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-73.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"MsNga","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"MsNga","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812","name":"BREAKING: Mets' Carlos Mendoza can\u2019t hide excitement after pitcher\u2019s \u2018effortless\u2019 live BP - NEWS USA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-73.jpg","datePublished":"2025-02-18T01:53:53+00:00","dateModified":"2025-02-18T01:53:53+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7d8919f80fe19b5d17fd5541862a7b37"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-73.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/02\/PICTURE-1300-x-1500-px-73.jpg","width":1300,"height":1600},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?p=34812#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BREAKING: Mets’ Carlos Mendoza can\u2019t hide excitement after pitcher\u2019s \u2018effortless\u2019 live BP"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/","name":"NEWS USA","description":"Your Daily Dose of Sports News and Updates","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/7d8919f80fe19b5d17fd5541862a7b37","name":"MsNga","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ddc5cc36b52e56e3c9aa09d60c7293d0b8a7d5eb4bfe93f637ffa8cb25ea8ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ddc5cc36b52e56e3c9aa09d60c7293d0b8a7d5eb4bfe93f637ffa8cb25ea8ac7?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"MsNga"},"url":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/?author=5"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34812","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=34812"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34812\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35037,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34812\/revisions\/35037"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/34813"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=34812"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=34812"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportnews.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=34812"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}