A look at the Mets’ rotation with Kodai Senga in it

Late last night, the news broke that the Mets had reached a five-year, $75 million agreement with right-handed pitcher Kodai Senga, the latest in a flurry of moves to significantly fortify the team’s roster for 2023 and beyond. With that, it appears the Mets’ rotation for the start next season is set, and it looks something like this:

1. Justin Verlander
2. Max Scherzer
3. Kodai Senga
4. José Quintana
5. Carlos Carrasco

Assuming that is the case, that bumps left-handed pitcher David Peterson and right-handed pitcher Tylor Megill down the starting pitching depth chart, alongside Elieser Hernández, who joined the Mets via trade in November. All three of those pitchers have options available, per FanGraphs, which would give the Mets the flexibility to either have them in their major league bullpen or making regular starts in Triple-A Syracuse to start the season.

Beyond those eight arms, should the Mets need to dip further into their internal pitching depth, the left-handed Joey Lucchesi should make his return to the mound in 2023 as he returns from Tommy John surgery. And while his brief foray in the big leagues this year didn’t go well, 24-year-old José Butto might prove more ready for the highest level after he gets more work in with Syracuse to start the year.

There’s always risk with pitching, but given the reality that the Mets faced at the beginning of free agency, the group they have built is formidable and should be very exciting to watch. To have lost Jacob deGrom to the Rangers and have filled out a rotation this quickly with pitchers of real quality is a marked change from how the Mets operated under previous ownership.