Mets Make a Decision on Kodai Senga's Highly Anticipated Return Date

The New York Mets have set a date for when ace Kodai Senga will make his long-awaited season debut.

Apr 12, 2024; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets injured starting pitcher Kodai Senga watches from the dugout during the ninth inning against the Kansas City Royals at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports / Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

His long-awaited return date has finally been set.

Despite getting roughed up a bit in his fourth minor league outing on Saturday, Japanese ace Kodai Senga's latest rehab start is expected be his final one before rejoining the New York Mets' rotation.

As manager Carlos Mendoza shared with reporters on Sunday, Senga will likely take the hill for the Mets on Friday, July 26 when they play the NL East rival Atlanta Braves in a crucial weekend series.

The Mets aren't worried about Senga allowing five runs in Saturday's rehab start with Triple-A Syracuse, so barring any setbacks he will make his regular season debut five days from now. The 31-year-old got hit hard, but he reached 79 pitches in this outing. The goal was for the righty to be stretched out to 80-85 pitches before returning to the big-league club.

Senga has been sidelined since the early portion of Spring Training after a shoulder strain initially knocked him out of action. A setback in May in the form of triceps inflammation further delayed his timeline thus forcing the ace to miss the entire first-half of the season.

The Mets' rotation has been solid (4.24 ERA) in his absence, but has turned up their play since the team caught fire in June. Luis Severino, Jose Quintana and Sean Manaea have all stepped up, and David Peterson has performed well. Top prospect hurler Christian Scott has shown promise, but the Mets are being careful with his innings.

President of baseball operations David Stearns recently revealed that the "default stance" is to shift to a six-man rotation when Senga comes back. Now, this plan is about to come to fruition.