The Los Angeles Dodgers will have their hands full in Game 1 of their 2024 National League Championship Series against the New York Mets on Sunday night.
Dodgers to face an elite MLB pitcher in Mets ace Kodai Senga in NLCS Game 1
The Mets will flex their muscle with former All-Star ace Kodai Senga on the mound to kick things off. Senga made a splash in his 2023 rookie season, going 12-7 with a sparkling 2.98 ERA and 202 strikeouts. After missing the first four months of the campaign with a shoulder injury, he immediately began instilling fear in opposing teams as soon as he took the mound for the first time in 2024 on July 26, tossing nine Ks alongside a 3.38 ERA in only 5.1 innings of work before going down with a calf strain in the Mets’ 8-4 win over the Atlanta Braves.
Senga has played well against the Dodgers in his career
Though he has yet to pitch in the postseason, Senga has a positive track record against Los Angeles, though in a small sample size. The only time he’s faced off against L.A. was in the Mets’ meeting against the Dodgers on July 15, 2023. Though the Dodgers handed the Mets a convincing 5-1 defeat, Senga did his thing on the mound and sent nine sluggers back to the dugout while conceding only one earned run in six innings of play, finishing with a 3.20 ERA on the affair.
Thus, the Dodgers will need to come prepared for the best flamethrower that the Mets have to offer in Game 1. Currently, Los Angeles is being fueled by 2024 NL MVP frontrunner and 50-50 club member Shohei Ohtani, who came through with four hits and four RBIs in their five-game NLDS series against the San Diego Padres. Though he hasn’t been the blistering force that he was in the regular season, the Dodgers still move as he moves and there is no reason to think that he won’t make Senga think twice about what pitch he wants to launch each time out.
Dodgers need their sluggers to come ready to play next to Shohei Ohtani in Game 1
Outside of him, the Dodgers will need sluggers like Freddie Freeman and Teoscar Hernandez — both of whom have been a foundation for Los Angeles with efficient hitting at the plate — to continue to do so against the Japanese sensation. Freeman is battling through a lingering ankle injury that jeopardized him playing at the tail end of the NLDS, while Hernandez has playoff experience of his own, including four home runs and a sweltering .988 OPS in his nine career playoff appearances, but will need to ensure that he’s locked in to keep that going against the Mets’ elite strikeouts artist.
Further, Mookie Betts recently broke a years-long playoff slump and has registered four hits and two homers in his last 12 at-bats. If he can play at that MVP level to get things going in the NLCS, he could be the X-Factor for the series and a fourth elite slugger for Senga to game plan for. The Dodgers are supplemented with solid slugging from catcher Will Smith and second baseman Gavin Lux, who have done their jobs through five playoff games so far.
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The Dodgers can make life difficult for Senga in between the bags
Equally as daunting as Senga is to the Dodgers’ batting order is Los Angeles’ batting order for Senga to have to deal with at Dodger Stadium on Sunday night. Nevertheless, with his seasoned game at 31 years of age and ample playoff experience in Japan’s esteemed NPB league including five Japan Series championships, the playoffs may prove to be a new stomping ground for him. The Dodgers need to do everything in their power to refrain from chasing adamantly after pitches outside of the strike zone while keeping the Mets’ No. 1 option on his toes by remaining active as base-stealing threats.
L.A. finished with the ninth-most stolen bases in the regular season with 136 and has the most among all playoff teams so far with five. That’ll be a great way for them to keep Senga occupied all night. Per Baseball Savant, the star righty allowed one base runner to advance on the bags in 2023 between first and second base, making him one of 123 pitchers out of 342 pitchers measured who did not catch a base runner out or keep at least one from touching second.
All in all, it is Senga’s incredible efficiency and top-shelf strikeout ability that will pose the biggest threats to the Dodgers in Game 1. He may have some additional rust to shake off having not pitched in nearly three months and only one time at that on the campaign. Nevertheless, if the Dodgers sleep on him, he may lead New York to an early 1-0 lead in the NLCS.
