3 Kodai Senga musts before the NY Mets can fully trust him in a high leverage role

Kodai Senga…the closer? Not even Kyra Sedgwick can keep up and she was The Closer for 7 seasons and 109 episodes. Averaging 42 minutes an episode counting for commercials, maybe an extra long finale and she has hours of experience more than the latest New York Mets pitcher to pick up a save.

The Mets had made Devin Williams close to immovable from the spot. His IL stint prior to the Atlanta Braves series combined with the desire to put Senga in a leverage role created a perfect storm to put him in the highest of leverage spots, the closer.

Now 2 for 2 in save situations with a song already in place, Michael Jackson’s “Beat It” (“Eat It” by Weird Al Yankovich would have been appropriate, too), there are three more musts before we can actually put our trust into him.

What Kodai Senga needs to do to prove to the Mets he is true closer material

1) Kodai Senga needs to save games on back-to-back days

This is the challenge everyone is waiting for. The idea that Senga needed an extra day of rest between starts gave him a reputation he has yet to overcome. It might have been the one lingering doubt as to whether or not he could actually pitch well in relief. As a guy who has shown in his time with the Mets that things need to be just right in order for him to be effective and in some instances come back from the IL, the closer role doesn’t allow as much planning. You never know when you’ll be called upon and if Senga wants the closer role or even a high-leverage spot, he’s going to need to pitch effectively on back-to-back days.

Since the transition, a day between appearances (neither a save situation) is the least amount of rest he has gotten. The Mets will probably be cautious about this for the remainder of August and possibly test it out as Senga gets more comfortable in these spots.

2) Kodai Senga needs to save a game in a tighter situation

In both saves, the Mets had a 3-run lead. The maximum amount of run differential you can have and it still be considered a save, I’d like to see what Senga does with the Mets only leading by one. Less room for error will show how gritty he can actually become.

It’s going to be difficult to find any pressurized situation for the entire team as they won’t play a game that’ll matter for the playoffs again in 2026. Fortunately, there is plenty of personal incentive for guys like Senga to perform when the lights burn the brightest.

3) Kodai Senga needs to enter a mess mid-inning

The true test of a closer is about the broom they carry. If they’re able to clean up a mess someone else created, they reach a whole new level of baseball nirvana. The reputation of some closers is that they aren’t able to go more than one inning. Senga is capable of that, having converted from a starter. What he hasn’t been doing is inheriting runners in this latest phase.

The Mets have kindly given Senga clean innings to work with. What would he do if there are runners on the corners with an out and only a 2-run lead? It’s the kind of spot where we can start to fully buy into Senga’s transition.

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