Doctor addresses recovery timeline for Mets pitcher Kodai Senga

While Dr. Abigail Campbell, MD has neither treated New York Mets All-Star starting pitcher Kodai Senga nor seen Senga's imaging results, the director of the Center for Women’s Sports Medicine at NYU Langone Orthopedics is an expert regarding shoulder injuries. 

Dr. Campbell told Abbey Mastracco of the New York Daily News that the moderate capsule strain in the back of Senga's right shoulder could prevent the 31-year-old from throwing for roughly four-to-six weeks. From there, Senga ideally would resume spring training activities en route to preparing for his regular-season debut. 

"If it’s truly just a little strain and he needs some rest, it could be a four- to six-week recovery, if he needs rest and there’s a little inflammation in there," Dr. Campbell explained. "...The fact that they’re calling it a strain, mild or moderate, makes me think that it’s, obviously, not a full capsular tear, that it’s basically an irritation. Just thinking of common shoulder stuff, it could be like a true posterior capsular injury, which comes from, essentially, overuse during the deceleration and follow-through part of the pitch." 

During an appearance on the SNY "Mets Hot Stove" program, Mets president of baseball operations David Stearns essentially confirmed Senga will begin the season on the injured list. Stearns added he expects Senga to make a lot of starts during the upcoming campaign. 

The Mets traded co-aces Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer last summer, missed out on signing Japanese starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto in free agency and were hoping to have Senga as their No. 1 option on Opening Day. SNY's Andy Martino reported on Thursday that "Senga could miss a few months" of meaningful action, but Martino also noted that "the first-blush reaction among league sources with knowledge of the Mets' thinking was that Senga’s injury would not push the team to sign one of the top-of-the-rotation starters still available on the free-agent market." 

Meanwhile, Dr. Campbell shared how this particular setback could impact a pitcher such as Senga. 

"Velocity is generated more from the back part of the swing," Dr. Campbell said. "It’s the accuracy that will probably be more affected by a capsular injury. You can’t control that ball release as much. So either way, it’s not great, but I think as far as speculation goes true, capsular injuries, if mild, could potentially tighten up and heal." 

For now, all the Mets can do is hope that rest helps Senga return to full fitness as soon as possible. Even before his injury, many analysts viewed the Mets as long shots to make the playoffs this fall.