Phillies disrespect of Bryce Harper makes NY Mets comments on Kodai Senga sound tame

Sports fans want honesty and oftentimes we don’t get the blunt truth. It was a different circumstance with Kodai Senga in August and September. David Stearns began to lack confidence in him in his final days pitching for the New York Mets. After the season was over, he spoke even more truly about Senga’s standing with the Mets and how his future is uncertain.

Carlos Mendoza seemed equally as unconfident in Senga with a passive “just okay” comment relating to Senga’s attempt to pitch his way back into the major league plans.

The comments from Stearns and Mendoza have had time to simmer. Meanwhile, Dave Dombrowski went a little overboard with his critique of Philadelphia Phillies superstar Bryce Harper.

Dave Dombrowski went further with his Bryce Harper bluntness than anyone with the Mets did with Kodai Senga

On his 33rd birthday no less, Dombrowski overlooked what wasn’t such a terrible year from Harper in Philadelphia. In 132 games and 580 trips to the plate, Harper hit 27 home runs and drove in 75. He batted .261/.357/.487. While not MVP-caliber, finishing as a Gold Glove finalist at first base ups his season a little bit.

Harper is under contract with the Phillies through 2031 and already it seems like the relationship is going south. Former GM Ruben Amaro Jr. who worked as the Mets first base coach in 2018 didn’t help when he suggested the Phillies could trade one of their big contracts this offseason.

The Mets needn’t worry about having as sour a turn in their Senga relationship. Signed for only two more guaranteed seasons and on a movable contract worth $15 million per year. Despite his lame finish, Senga still ended 2025 with a strong 3.02 ERA. The problems with him go beyond the final season totals. He was a completely different pitcher after returning from the IL. 26 of his 38 earned runs allowed came in those final 8 starts. The other 12 were spread across 14 outings which is an insane enough way of explaining how good he was to begin the year.

The way both teams talk about their star players’ underperforming is a bit refreshing because of how humanly accurate each is. Both clubs failed to capture a championship this year beyond just the performance of this pair but more so how reliant they were on Senga and Harper to be two of their best players. Statistically, they still kind of were but with faults. Players around them doing the same exact thing–starting pitchers on the Mets fading and hitters on the Phillies coming up small–which ultimately led to the demise of both clubs.