NEW YORK -- The Mets, in keeping with the theme of their disappointing season, appear poised to take one step forward Wednesday only to perhaps take two steps back.
While the plan is to activate shortstop Francisco Lindor from the injured list before the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs, manager Carlos Mendoza said right-hander Kodai Senga has been demoted to the bullpen and did not rule out of the possibility of left fielder Juan Soto going on the injured list after exiting Tuesday's game with back tightness.
Team officials quickly made the decision to move Senga, one of the worst starters in the majors this season, to the bullpen after he continued his dreadful campaign by allowing seven runs over 3⅔ innings in Tuesday's 9-6 loss to the Cubs.
The dud left Senga with a 10.08 ERA across seven starts this season. He has compiled 34 strikeouts to 22 walks in his 27⅔ innings. Opponents have hit nine home runs with a .979 OPS against him.
"He could be a multi-inning guy," Mendoza said. "He could be pitching high-leverage situations if we need him to. The game will dictate. We saw what he's capable of doing. We've seen flashes of it."
One of those flashes appeared Tuesday when Senga, behind a fastball that touched 99 mph, struck out two batters in a perfect, 15-pitch first inning. That dominance disappeared in the second inning as Senga went away from his fastball, lost the strike zone, and swiftly encountered disaster. The Cubs finished the frame with five runs on two walks, a hit batter, and two hits, including a three-run home run from the scorching Pete Crow-Armstrong.
"I think maybe just of this role, you simplify it," Mendoza said. "You say, 'Hey, man, like throw your best pitches in the strike zone. You're pretty when you do that. So our job is to help him. And he's talented. So trying to get the best out of him here, out of this role."
Senga's experience out of the bullpen since coming over from Japan for the 2023 season has been limited to one relief appearance in Game 6 of the 2024 National League Championship, though he logged two short outings as an opener earlier in that postseason.
"We told him, 'You pitch an inning, you gotta be ready to go the next day,'" Mendoza said. "I know there's going to be an adjustment here. We'll take care of him, obviously, but he's one of those guys in the bullpen."
The Mets looked to turn the page Wednesday without Soto, one of the top hitters in the majors this season, in the lineup for at least the first game of their doubleheader. Soto left Tuesday's game after four innings after wincing when he made contact in his first two at-bats and experiencing discomfort throwing. He wore a heating pad while in the dugout to treat the pain, but Mendoza chose to remove him from the game with the Mets trailing 7-2.
"We got to wait," Mendoza said when asked about Soto going on the injured list. "Obviously, it's not ideal when a player like him comes out of a game. Those guys are tough, and they know how important they are and they take pride in being in the lineup every day and posting and I just didn't like how he looked yesterday. But we've got to wait."
Soto missed 15 games in April with a strained calf and returned to retake his spot among baseball's best hitters with a .965 OPS that ranks second in the NL entering Wednesday.
He also happened to return from the injured list on the same night that Lindor suffered his severe calf strain running home against the Minnesota Twins on April 22.
Lindor appeared in three rehab games, including one at Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday night when he went 2-for-5 and played eight innings at shortstop. Mendoza said Lindor's workload will be lighter than usual once activated with more off days as he continues his buildup.
Keeping Lindor and Soto in the lineup together has proved elusive this season. The two franchise cornerstones have played just nine of the last-place Mets' 78 games together entering Wednesday, leaving the club with less margin for error in what has been a disastrous season thus far.
"It is what it is, right?" Mendoza said. "Hopefully we get those two in the line for a long time here for the rest of the season and we can make a run at it."
