Ranking the Mets starting pitcher options for the now-necessary Game 5 

3. Kodai Senga

Before everyone starts to overreact about this, it should be noted that Kodai Senga is a little raw in these playoffs due to his few appearances on the mound this season. However, when Senga has been in form his stuff level is by far the best of the Mets' entire starting pitching staff.

A positive aspect, if there is one, of Senga's last start is due to the fact that the pitcher does not have any type of discomfort or injury in his throwing arm or any other part of his body. His poor performance in the first game of this series is exclusively due to a grip issue in his pitches that did not allow him to deceive the batters for strikes and increased his level of lack of control.

In his appearances during the regular season, Senga managed to post a Stuff+ of 110, that is, ten percent better than the league average and with a location also above the MLB average. Additionally, he achieved a higher percentage of hitters swinging more outside the strike zone, and a decrease in his hard-hit contact allowed.

Senga in his MLB career against Dodgers hitters has managed to hold Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, Will Smith, and Tommy Edman to a batting average below .100 collectively. As Senga finds his rhythm in practice he could be an X-factor in this series as the starter for Game 5 of the NLCS.