Kodai Senga set to begin rehab assignment with his Mets injury return getting close

While the Mets bullpen continues to dwindle, the starting rotation room likely will soon need to shuffle around for the long-awaited return of their Japanese ace. Kodai Senga is set to begin a minor league rehab a signment next week following a bullpen se sion on Sunday for the last big step in his recovery from a shoulder injury. Senga is expected to throw about 40 pitches during the a signment, but its not yet determined when or where he will go for the outing, manager Carlos Mendoza explained before the Mets took on the Astros Friday night. Kodai Senga is set to begin a rehab a signment next week. Robert Sabo for the NY Post He added the right-hander looked good in his live batting practice on Thursday where Senga threw two innings. What comes after, team president Jhony Brito Jersey David Stearns said, is still unclear. There is no specific timeline in mind for the Mets and the number of outings it may take for Senga to return remains unknown. Explore More Once we get into that rehab outing progre sion, we can be a little bit more specific as to what we think this looks like, Stearns said on Friday. We still may not know the exact number of outings its going to take, but I think what we saw yesterday here in a live BP se sion was really encouraging and taking this next step and getting him on a mound in a minor rehab game will be really good as well. Senga, 31, has previously almost made it to the minor league step before but among other setbacks, including tricep discomfort that instead of throwing a bullpen se sion. Kodai Senga, pictured last month, hasnt pitch for the Mets this season. Robert Sabo for the NY Post After an All-Star rookie season that almost saw finish second in Rookie of the Year voting, Senga has not seen any action this season since suffering the right shoulder injury in spring training. Stearns said he is eager to have him back, along with Christian Scott, no matter the amount of musical chairs he will have to play with the rotation. That, he deems, is a good problem to have. We have more effective starting pitchers who are healthy at any given point than we have roster spots and rotation spots, then we are in a pretty good spot, Stearns said. I think were getting to that point. I think Kodai coming back will be a big boost. Delivering insights on all things Amazins Sign up for Inside the Mets by Mike Puma, exclusively on Sports+ Thank you By clicking above you agree to the and . Enjoy this Post Sports+ exclusive newsletter! Scott after the rookie went 0-2 with a 3.90 ERA and 8.1 strikeouts per nine in five starts in the majors. Senga and Scott would be among the rotation of Luis Severino, Sean Manaea, Jose Quintana, David Peterson, and Tylor Megill. Carmelo Martinez Jersey