PORT ST. LUCIE — Kodai Senga is ready to take a crack at major league hitters in a game situation.
The right-hander will get that first opportunity Sunday, when he is scheduled for his Grapefruit League debut with the Mets, against the Cardinals in Jupiter, Fla.
“It will be my first time throwing to actual hitters, not the Mets hitters, so it’s something I really look forward to,” Senga said through an interpreter Tuesday after throwing 30 pitches in live batting practice, his third such session this spring.
For now, Senga is taking the anticipation of his first U.S. game in stride.
“I don’t know what’s coming,” he said. “Come [Sunday] when I throw, we’ll see what kind of emotions come up to me.”
Senga, who arrived from Japan on a five-year contract worth $75 million, spent the early portion of camp adjusting to the baseball and slope of the mound.
From the start, he’s been pleased with his stuff.
“For the slider and the cutter I have looked at the metric, the movement and set goals for myself and coming into these live BPs I think I am able to throw them at my goal, so I am not really worried about them,” Senga said.
“I am able to focus solely on my mechanics and as far as today went I think I was half and half on how I wanted to throw it and how it actually went, so I think that is my main focus.”
Tylor Megill, Carlos Carrasco, Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander will precede Senga in the rotation over the next four days.
Of that group, only Scherzer (who pitched Sunday against the Nationals) won’t be working in an exhibition game for the first time this spring.
The test for Senga will be working in a five-man rotation for the first time and the side sessions in between starts.
“I think we will have to just find out as we go along,” he said.
David Wright is scheduled to spend the next two days in camp as a guest instructor.
Buck Showalter is hoping Brett Baty and Mark Vientos, in particular, benefit from the former third baseman’s presence.
David Robertson is among the relievers who hasn’t yet appeared in an exhibition game, by design.
The veteran right-hander has been facing hitters in live batting practice.
“He’s got a routine that he’s followed for a number of years and we’re following it,” Showalter said. “You probably won’t see him as much as you normally do, but he’s tried and tested and it works for him and we’re going to follow that.”
The Mets played their longest game of the spring on Tuesday, finishing an 8-4 loss to the Astros at Clover Park in 3:09, despite the new rules designed to speed up the game.
Afterwards, Showalter noted teams might benefit from playing seven-inning games early in spring training to preserve pitching.
“You ever wonder, the first week, maybe 10 days, of spring training, games should be seven innings instead of nine?” Showalter said. “You wouldn’t have all the pitching issues you have early.”
He said it was mentioned to him recently and “it makes a lot of sense.”
Teams did that in 2021 as a precaution against spreading COVID.
Showalter praised Troy Miller following the right-hander’s 1 ¹/₃ scoreless innings against Houston.
The 26-year-old was acquired in the trade that sent Jacob Barnes to Toronto in 2021. Miller spent that season at Double-A before battling injuries last season.
“He was impressive,’’ Showalter said. “He threw the ball well. He’s been hurt and had a good outing.”
DJ Stewart, who played for Showalter in Baltimore as a rookie in 2018 and hit a dozen homers as an Oriole in 2021, hit an opposite-field double Tuesday.