NEW YORK -- The Mets' pitching staff is still in flux, but the team got good news on Kodai Senga's right hamstring injury.
Senga underwent an MRI on Friday afternoon after being placed on the 15-day injured list. The MRI revealed only a Grade 1 hamstring strain, the least severe variety.
"We feel like it's relatively good news here," manager Carlos Mendoza said after Friday's game, a 7-5 loss to the Rays in the series opener at Citi Field. "It's a low grade."
Senga, who injured his hamstring while covering first base during his start Thursday against the Nationals, will be shut down for two weeks before the Mets re-evaluate him.
"Hopefully he's symptom-free, and we'll get him back up again," Mendoza said.
After the initial shutdown period, Senga will need time to build back up before he's ready to pitch in big league games again. So his return to the Mets’ rotation could be a month or more away.
"It depends on the player," Mendoza said. "It's two weeks of very little physical activity. Hopefully -- I've got to get with the trainers -- we keep [Senga's] arm going [during that time]. But he's got to be symptom-free before we start ramping him up."
Mendoza stressed that the low grade of the strain was the most important news. The team is hopeful Senga's rehab this time will be faster than the lengthy IL stints he went through last year.
Senga didn't pitch until July 26 last season after an arduous recovery from a strained right posterior shoulder capsule, triceps discomfort and nerve inflammation. Then, when he finally made his 2024 debut, he strained his left calf while fielding his position. That strain was high grade and kept Senga out until the postseason.
"Now that we've gone through it with the athlete, with Senga, I'm pretty confident [in] the communication, the feedback from him," Mendoza said. "We'll continue to listen to him. He's very meticulous about what he does, whether it's rehab, his mechanics, the throwing program. So I feel like we're in a good place, and I'm not anticipating any issues here."
The Mets' starting rotation depth is being tested, with Senga now joining Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas on the injured list. The other starters have stepped up with aplomb -- like Clay Holmes, who threw five innings of one-run baseball against the Rays on Friday. But there are still questions.
With Holmes, for example, there's some workload management, as he transitions from a reliever to a full-season starter. Holmes was lifted after just 79 pitches in a preplanned 85-pitch-max outing after he didn't recover as easily as usual following his last outing against the Rockies in the high altitude of Colorado.
"I was definitely a little more sore coming out of there," Holmes said. "Just normal soreness, but everything was just a little bit more. I think just, where we're at in the season, and with all the things combined, they didn't really want to play it super aggressive. … You trust those decisions -- Mendy and [pitching coach Jeremy Hefner] and the people that know best and have a really good long-term vision."
Meanwhile, the pitcher who'll get the first crack at slotting into the rotation for Senga, veteran Paul Blackburn, got hit hard on Friday in a short outing out of the bullpen, which was meant to be a tuneup for his start against the Braves next Wednesday in Senga's spot. Blackburn only got one out and surrendered four runs and the Mets' lead.
"It's been tough," Blackburn, a longtime starter, said. "It's completely different routines. I just haven't found a routine for the bullpen. It's a lot of trial and error."
And Montas, who in theory should be close to a return to the Mets and could alleviate some of the pressure on the rotation, has been getting shelled in his rehab starts. Montas allowed eight earned runs in just 1 2/3 innings in his fifth rehab outing for Triple-A Syracuse on Friday.
But those questions aside, the Mets' top priority right now is making sure Senga's rehab goes as smoothly and swiftly as possible, because he's an ace-level pitcher when healthy.
"Particularly Senga, he wants to be involved in the [rehab] process," Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns said before the game. "I think it's important that we get on the same page as him from the jump, and that we're all bought into what this process is going to look like."