NEW YORK — The New York Mets are no longer dealing in hypotheticals when it comes to their playoff roster.
In September, Carlos Mendoza was hopeful that he would be able to have the conversations about the availability of Kodai Senga and Jeff McNeil that would come with a deep playoff run.
Now, with the National League Championship Series on the horizon, those player's availabilities could be a reality. First, Mendoza is calling upon Senga as his Game 1 starting pitcher against the Dodgers at 8:15 p.m. on Sunday night at Dodgers Stadium.
"From the beginning, we wanted to put our guys in what we felt was the best position to have success, considering where they’re at physically, some of the innings, who needs the extra days, who we want to keep on their normal routine. That was the case for Senga," Mendoza said. "We wanted to keep him as close as possible to his routine."
It will be Senga's second start since returning from a high-grade calf strain and triceps tightness during his recovery.
What might Kodai Senga's workload look like?
Senga worked two innings in Game 1 of the NLDS against the Phillies on Oct. 5, allowing one earned run on a solo home run to Kyle Schwarber and issuing one walk while striking out three in two innings.
The expectation is that Senga will be able to throw at least three innings in Game 1. Mendoza will then have a full stable of relievers to lean on to close out the game depending on the situation.
"There's not a number I have in mind," Senga said through interpreter Hiro Fujiwara. "I'm going until they take the ball away from me, and I'm gonna go at 100 percent until then."
Senga, who only pitched in one game during the regular season after missing five months with a right shoulder capsule strain, admitted that he feels some "tension" to perform in a big spot, given how the rest of the starting rotation has performed during the Mets' run to 89 wins and their first championship series since 2015.
How the Mets rotation is lining up for the NLCS
With a full stable of starting options, Mendoza announced that Sean Manaea, who has a 1-0 record and 2.25 ERA in 12 innings across two postseason starts, will start Game 2 against the Dodgers. The Mets manager said that Severino is the one who could benefit from some extra rest, with 194 combined innings between the regular season and playoffs coming off an 89⅔-inning campaign in 2023.
"We're still facing a really good team. We got to go out there and execute," Mendoza said. " I think overall, especially what we went through the past two weeks or with so much traveling and playing that many games on the road, and not only for the starting rotation, but for our bullpen, it was good to have these couple of days off.
"It was nice to have these conversations and have some choices and options, but I don't put too much into it, because we still got to go out there and play well."
Despite a predisposition to give Senga extra rest between starts, both the starting pitcher and manager believe he would be ready to reappear on normal rest for Game 5 in New York on Thursday, assuming all goes well on Sunday.
"I'm ready for anything," Senga said. "I don't anticipate getting to 100 pitches tomorrow and how many days I have in between, it doesn't matter at this point. We need to win the games, so whenever they call on me, I'm ready."
Jeff McNeil's return on the horizon
McNeil appears to be headed toward a Mets reunion in the NLCS, as well.
The Mets second baseman, who has been out since Sept. 6 with a fractured wrist, was set to appear in his second straight Arizona Fall League game on Saturday after playing nine innings at second base and receiving five at-bats with the Scottsdale Scorpions on Friday night.
After collecting a single and a walk and coming through well, McNeil was slated to play the right field on Saturday.
"We'll see," Mendoza said of a possible role for McNeil, "but if he's healthy, there's a good chance he'll be on the roster, for sure, and then we'll go from there."
Mendoza said the Mets coaching staff is weighing decisions about carrying the same number of position players or taking away a bullpen arm as McNeil's return looms.
