I can’t take my eyes off the ball until the end.
Since his debut, he has won two games in a row and has an earned run average of 1.59. He struck out 14 against 45 batters while pitching 11⅓ innings. He had a strikeout rate of 11.12, a batting average of 1.5 4, and a WHIP of 1.06.
New York Mets right-hander Senga Godai (30). 안전놀이터He is the most ‘hot’ player at the beginning of this season. He started the season as a 4th or 5th starter with a question mark, and showed the power of a 1st or 2nd starter. He showed that the best pitchers in Japanese professional baseball work right in the major leagues.
His main weapon is a fastball with a maximum speed of 160 km/h and a forkball with a large drop. There are many pitchers in the major leagues who throw fastballs close to lightspeed. Senga is the only pitcher who throws a ‘ghost forkball’ that suddenly disappears in front of the hitter.
Praise poured in from the live pitching and demonstration games held during the spring camp. Top hitters in the major leagues clucked their tongues, saying, “I’ve never seen a ball like that before.”
In his major league debut on the 3rd (hereafter Korean time) and his second appearance on the 9th, he overwhelmed the Miami Marlins batters with a ‘ghost forkball’. His first game on the 3rd was 88 pitches, 5⅓ innings, 8 strikeouts and 1 run, and on the 9th, 90 balls, 6 innings, 6 strikeouts and 1 run.
He struck out 12 of 14 on forkballs. During the debut on the 3rd, all 8 strikeouts were decided by forkball
threw with
The match on the 9th was the highlight. In the second inning, he struck out opponents 6-8 consecutively with a forkball.
He increased the proportion of his fastball in the second game compared to his first game. He changed his monotonous pitching pattern. He has a powerful slider and cut fastball, as well as a fast fastball and forkball. It is a pitch that makes the ‘Ghost Pokeball’ more powerful.
He appeared in 275 career games for the Softbank Hawks, going 87-44 with a 2.59 earned run average. In his last season, he posted an 11-6 record with 156 strikeouts in 144 innings pitched, and a 1.94 earned run average. In 2019 he struck out 227 in 180⅓ innings.
Senga, who became a free agent at the end of last year, decided to challenge the major leagues he had long dreamed of. He signed a five-year, $75 million contract with an average annual salary of $15 million. Some American media gave a skeptical view, citing his injury history and low number of innings pitched.