Manager Carlos Mendoza announced Friday that Kodai Senga will start Game 1 of the NLDS for the New York Mets against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday. The decision came as a surprise after Senga only made one appearance during the regular season due to injury. He was diagnosed with a shoulder capsular strain while pitching during spring training and did not make his season debut until July 26. He was withdrawn in the sixth inning of that game after only throwing 73 shots due to a calf strain. Although the Mets initially hoped Senga would be able to return by the end of the regular season, he complained of a triceps strain during a rehab game against Triple A Syracuse on September 21 and the team ruled out a return before the playoffs.

The Mets signed Senga to a five-year, $75 million contract before last season after a stellar career in Japan. He is their best starter in 2023 and finished second in National League Rookie of the Year voting behind outfielder Corbin Carroll of the Arizona Diamondbacks. He also received six Cy Young votes, finishing seventh in the voting. New York will have to shuffle the lineup a bit to make room for Senga. Luis Severino, Sean Manaea and José Quintana started three games of the playoff series against the Milwaukee Brewers. Starter Tylor Megill was left out of the lineup after he threw 100 pitches in the Mets’ playoff-deciding win over the Atlanta Braves on Monday but he is expected to be included in the lineup for the series this match. Max Kranick, who hasn’t pitched in the major leagues since 2022, replaced Megill in the playoff lineup and would be a likely candidate to be cut from the NLDS lineup. But that’s still one more change to accommodate the addition of Senga. Savers Danny Young, Huascar Brazobán and Adam Ottavino were unused against Milwaukee and would be the most likely to be shuffled from the lineup.