6 positives in a Mets season full of despair

5) Kodai Senga has been even better than the hype

When the Mets signed Japanese sensation Kodai Senga in the offseason, it was seen as a complementary piece to a rotation that would be carried by future Hall-of-Famers Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer.

Instead, Senga has clearly been the Mets' best starter. Some of this is due to the disappointing (by their lofty standards) seasons that Verlander and Scherzer have endured to this point, but Senga has been outstanding by any metric, which is why he was rewarded with a spot on the National League All-Star roster.

Senga ranks sixth among all major league starters in strikeouts per nine innings, and his ghost fork pitch is the main reason why. Senga's signature pitch has been the most unhittable single pitch in baseball, generating nearly a 60% whiff rate.

Senga ended the first half on a high note, giving up one run to the Diamondbacks while striking out 12 over eight masterful innings. He's walked only seven batters in his last four starts, a tremendous sign of progress in the one area in which he struggled earlier in the year.

The Mets rotation is full of question marks, but Senga isn't one of them.