Kodai Senga earns save with Devin Williams on IL

Williams heads to the shelf after registering a disappointing 4.66 ERA, 1.66 WHIP and 51/21 K/BB ratio across 38 2/3 innings. The 31-year-old has converted just 16 of his 19 save chances this season. A quick glance under the hood reveals a more palatable 3.29 xERA and a bloated .388 BABIP, but his Mets debut has been an unmitigated disaster. His absence thrusts New York into a closer by committee situation with Kodai Senga and Daniel Duarte as the most likely candidates to inherit save opportunities, with rookie lefty Nate Lavender representing a dark horse for the role.

Senga cruised early, but hit a wall in the fifth of this one. Up until that point, he hadn’t walked a batter, threw a first-pitch strike to 11 of the 13 he faced, and only needed 33 pitches to get through four innings. That’s remarkable efficiency for anyone who’s watched Senga pitch this season. His cutter had some extra life and he was not afraid to attack hitters in the zone. Then, in that fifth inning, he walked the first two batters he faced and was pulled after a double brought a run home. Both of the runners he left on base came around to score, soiling his final line. Still, this was a fine outing all things considered, especially because Senga was thrust into action in place of Freddy Peralta as trade rumors swirl. If Senga gets another turn in the rotation, it will come next week against the Pirates.

Good news for Marlins hitters based on how this year has gone. Senga will get yet another chance to improve on his 8.85 ERA in 40 2/3 innings this year. He’s allowed 12 homers and walked 30 batters in those innings.

The Athletic’s Will Sammon and Ken Rosenthal reported earlier today that the Mets are asking teams for a top-100 prospect “and more” in their early conversations with teams about Freddy Peralta. It appears they’re close enough on terms with a team to consider scratching Peralta to make sure he can turn up to a new team injury-free. It would seem likely that a rested Kodai Senga will shoulder most of the load in a bullpen game tonight.

Thorton figures to draw the starting assignment instead of Kodai Senga and should factor into New York’s rotation plans down the home stretch, especially if they decide to move some pitching talent at the trade deadline in a couple weeks.

Senga left with the Mets up 9-4, which put him in line for a rather undeserved victory, but then the Royals scored 12 runs off Austin Warren and Matt Seelinger between the fifth and seventh innings. That might have made Senga look better in comparison, but four walks while generating just six whiffs isn’t a good combination. He’ll be available to pitch Sunday against the Red Sox, but it remains to see what kind of form that will take. The Mets would probably go with a bullpen game if they get length from Freddy Peralta on Saturday.

It went as a tough loss for Senga, who dropped to 0-7. He entered with the Mets down 3-0, but the team rallied to take a 4-3 lead before Senga gave up a two-run homer to Kyle Schwarber in the seventh. Aside from that, Senga was quite good. He got himself into a big jam in the sixth, with Alec Bohm walking to start the inning and Brandon Marsh following with a double. However, he escaped without a run scoring. After Schwarber’s homer in the seventh, Senga retired eight of nine batters to conclude his outing. It might be enough to get him a start next weekend in Atlanta, but we’ll have to wait and see.

Senga has a 10.08 ERA in seven starts this season and has not looked like a pitcher the Mets want coming out of the bullpen either. However, he needs to accept a demotion to Triple-A, and the team doesn’t have many other options right now.

Senga was terrific in the first tonight, averaging 97.8 mph on his 12 fastballs and striking out both Pete Crow-Armstrong and Michael Busch in a perfect inning. After that, though, his fastball plummeted to 95 mph on average, he gave the Cubs six free baserunners and two of the three hits he allowed left the yard. After the game, it sounded like his time in the rotation might come to an end for now. In theory, Senga still has enough in the tank, even while throwing 95 mph, to retire major league hitters. he struck out six tonight and allowed just three hard-hit balls. In practice, though, he’s 0-9 with an 8.10 ERA in 15 starts since last year’s All-Star break.

Scott is eligible to come off the injured list on Saturday, which would bump Kodai Senga back a couple days or out of New York’s rotation entirely. It’ll be David Peterson handling Friday’s series opener. The 27-year-old will wind up missing only a pair of starts after hitting the injured list with a hip impingement earlier this month. He had allowed three earned runs or fewer in eight consecutive starts prior to being tagged for four runs over 4 2/3 innings by the Cardinals during his last start before landing on the shelf. He boasts a strong 3.10 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 47/19 K/BB ratio across 40 2/3 innings this season. He’s a decent streaming option for fantasy managers in deeper formats where he may have been dropped.