If you'll allow me to butcher a classic proverb, failure can be the mother of invention, too. And this season's Mets team is definitely a failure. But it also puts them in a position where they are willing to try things they never would have thought possible, and sometimes being in that position can lead teams to unearth hidden gems.
To say that this season hasn't gone according to plan for the Mets would be a massive understatement. But one thing you learn after writing about this sport for a long enough time is that every team has the potential to pleasantly surprise you. And Kodai Senga emerging as the Mets closer for the stretch run would certainly go down as a pleasant surprise.
Senga was supposed to be a big part of the Mets rotation plans in 2026, and when he showed up to Spring Training with tweaked mechanics and some added velocity, hopes (if not necessarily expectations) were high. But things went sideways almost immediately, with Senga putting up a 9.00 ERA in five April starts before going on what would end up being a nearly two-month IL trip with a back injury. He's been relegated to mop-up duty for most of the time since his return, but when the Mets needed a closer Monday against the Braves, it was Senga who jogged out from the bullpen to try to lock down a three-run lead.
And he did it! He did it and he looked pretty good while doing it! Senga's velocity has been up even more since his move to a single-inning relief role, and he sat at 97.3 mph with his four-seamer, up 1.1 from his season average – and he was up even more on the rest of the arsenal. He struck out two and walked one in an uneventful ninth inning for the save, his first in the majors and his first at any level since 2014 in Japan.
One save isn't proof of anything. Heck, it's not like Senga has been so overwhelming out of the bullpen that we have much to go on here – he allowed 10 runs in 12 innings in July while making four of his five appearances as a reliever. He's been used in a more traditional single-inning role over the past week or so and does have four strikeouts in three innings, but that's a tiny sample size. Skepticism is the right approach to Senga's save here, both in terms of the result and the role – it's the first game the Mets have had since Devin Williams went on the IL with a shoulder strain.
You shouldn't be approaching this as if Senga is suddenly either the Mets or your Fantasy team's savior for saves. But he wouldn't be the first failed starter to remake himself as a viable reliever, and the fact that he got the first opportunity – and his expected competition, Daniel Duarte, worked the seventh inning in this same game – suggests the Mets have some faith in him. That has gone wrong in the past, but if you're the type of Fantasy player who has been speculating on the likes of Jordan Romano and Kirby Yates this season, you can add Senga to the list.
You can't trust him. But there's at least a chance the next two months could see him thrive in a new role. And with how scarce saves are in many leagues, it's at least worth giving him a look on waivers.
Pre-game Lineup Card
Here's what you might have missed from CBSSports.com's MLB coverage in recent days:
Manaea's bounce back. If you missed it yesterday, here's my recap of this weekend's action.
Power Rankings. The Dodgers sure aren't looking infallible anymore as Matt Snyder ranks all 30 teams.
Diagnosing the M's. Mike Axisa takes a look at what has gone wrong for the Mariners and whether they can turn things around.
Offseason lookahead. Francisco Lindor looks like one of the stars who could potentially be on the move this offseason.
Hitting the Wire
The top waiver-wire targets from Monday's action:
Jacob Lopez, SP, Athletics (39%) – Lopez comes at hitters with this cross-fire delivery from the left side that creates unusual shapes with his entire arsenal. Hitters just don't see a lot of pitchers who throw like him, and they don't see a lot of pitches that look like his, and when he's locked in, that can create a lot of really uncomfortable at-bats. He is, for lack of a better term, weird, and I mean that as a compliment. The raw stuff will never blow you away – he has thrown exactly two pitches in his entire career at 94 mph – but he still managed a 13-start stretch last season with a 2.17 ERA and 30% strikeout rate. He combines Andrew Abbott's ability to limit damage on contact (even on fly balls) with legit bat-missing ability when he's at his best, and he's riding a nice little heater right now, putting up a 2.36 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 26.2 innings since the All-Star break. I don't think Lopez is a must-add pitcher, but he's one of the more interesting options out there on the waiver wire right now, and his 39% roster rate looks especially low during a two-start week where he gets another solid matchup against the Rangers later on. It's not too late to get on board.
Zack Gelof, 2B, Athletics (62%) – Gelof is just having a really nice season when he's been able to stay on the field. That has only been true for 67 of the A's 119 games so far, but he was back on the field Monday after missing a month with a knee laceration. And he made an instant impact, going 2 for 4 with his 12th homer, along with two runs and two RBI against the Rays, and he has added eight steals for good measure. The underlying data doesn't exactly back Gelof's success up (.289 xwOBA vs. .348 actual mark), but he does have a great home ballpark and a lift-and-pull oriented swing that can help him overcome some of those limitations. At least in Roto leagues, he deserves to be rostered pretty much everywhere.
Cam Smith, OF, Astros (39%) – Everyone's timetable is different, and maybe it's just taking Smith some time to figure things out. That's probably wishful thinking, given how underwhelming the first two seasons of his career have been so far, but when we're talking about a player with the kind of obvious physical gifts Smith has, I'm willing to veer into being overly optimistic. He went 3 for 4 with a homer, two runs, and two RBI to continue his heater Monday – he is now hitting .333 with four homers and a 1.040 OPS over the past 15 games. He was awful for a while immediately preceding that and his overall numbers are still pretty bad, so we're definitely still in the "hopeful" phase with Smith. But if he is figuring it out, he could be a very, very valuable contributor down the stretch.
Dean Kremer, SP, Twins (27%) – I've always kind of liked Kremer, and I liked the Twins' move to snag him for cheap at the deadline. His first start with the team was fine, but his second Monday against the Orioles was great, as he limited them to just one run on one hit and one walk, while striking out seven over seven innings. Nice time for a revenge game, huh? He generated 14 swinging strikes, including five each with his splitter and cutter, which both have a whiff rate over 30% for the season, a solid mark. He hasn't been great overall, but I don't think it's too much to ask for a sub-4.00 ERA and a strikeout per inning from Kremer moving forward, making him a useful option against the right matchups.
Andrew Painter, SP, Phillies (39%) – Kudos to Painter for realizing that he needs to evolve if he wants to survive in the majors. He reworked his arsenal down at Triple-A, swapping out his splitter for a changeup that he has been leaning on since his return, and it looks like a keeper – he had five whiffs with it and generated a bunch of weak contact Monday against the Cardinals while upping his usage to 31%. His fastball remains a problem (96.2 mph average exit velocity on a couple of batted balls in this one), but he's showing signs of growth, with 16 strikeouts and a 2.93 ERA in 15.1 innings since his return. It's a small sample size and some flaws are still evident, but Painter is starting to at least show some upside for the first time in the majors.
Three Up, Three Down
Three big performances that have players trending up, and three that have the arrow pointing in the opposite direction.
Three Up
Jackson Merrill has turned his season around
Someone's gotta investigate what was going on in San Diego early in the season, because it's been an absolute night-and-day difference for their biggest hitters over the past two months. Through the end of May, Merrill had just five homers and was hitting .209 in the first 55 games of the season; in 62 games since, he has 14 homers and 13 steals while hitting .273. Merrill's plate discipline has looked more or less the same in that span, but he's just hitting the ball with a lot more authority, putting up a .342 expected wOBA in that span, much more in line with where he was his first two seasons. It's been a frustrating ride for Merrill, and he might just be another version of Michael Harris, another supremely talented young hitter whose career has been marked by inconsistency, thanks in large part to poor plate discipline. But we're seeing how good Merrill can be when he's locked in, and he is still just 23. I like to think he's still just figuring things out, and I'm excited to see how he closes the season out.
Chandler Simpson is hot again
"Speed doesn't slump" is one of those baseball truisms everyone often throws out there, but it's not actually true, is it? Simpson has had several slumps this season, including one where he just flat out stopped running and looked like he might be on his way back to the minors. But he's been locked in for a while now, hitting .383 over his past 41 games, and after stealing two bases Monday he's up to 19 in that span. Of course, he has to hit like this to have much value for Fantasy, because he has effectively zero power and doesn't hit high enough in the lineup consistently enough to score many runs (even this hot stretch has seen him score 17 runs in those 41 games). There will probably be slumps to come, and the limitations keep Simpson on the fringes of relevance in many points leagues. But he also has the ability to absolutely carry you in two of five Roto categories when he's as hot as he is.
Mackenzie Gore flashed the upside again
Okay so … do we buy back in? I'm going to have trouble ever doing that again with Gore, who has burned me far too many times in the past. But he's looking good again, with only four earned runs and 22 strikeouts in 18.1 innings over his past three starts after Monday's nine-strikeout outing. He had his changeup working at the highest level possible Monday, doubling its usage to 21% and generating 12 whiffs on 17 swings en route to 22 whiffs total. But the thing is, we've seen all this before. There's never been a question about Gore's talent, nor of his upside; the issue is his ability to ever put it into play for more than a few starts (or weeks) at a time. Maybe this time will be different, but I thought that a change of scenery would unlock something at the beginning of this season and he's been as frustrating as ever. I don't have a lot of hope, despite how brilliant he can be.
Three Down
Noah Cameron stumbled a bit
It feels a little harsh to put Cameron here. Yes, four earned runs in 5.2 innings is a disappointing line, especially since you probably just started him for this two-start week after three brilliant starts preceding it. But you have to consider two things: One is that he was facing the Dodgers, and even when they're slumping, this is still an incredibly dangerous lineup. And the other thing is that Cameron actually left this game having allowed two runs, with two more coming when the bullpen allowed both inherited runners to score. Hey, those runs get charged to his line like any other, but there's also a bit of bad luck in 100% of inherited runners scored. Cameron still looked pretty good, generating 13 whiffs on 101 pitches despite just two strikeouts, and he had both his changeup and slider working. The key here seems to be fading the fastball, and he continues to do that, so I'm not going to hold this one against him too much – even if I don't have a ton of faith in him moving forward, either.
Yes, you can drop Bryce Elder
Yeah, I think we're done here. Elder got a nice little boost to his roster rate for a two-start week this week and that blew up in a whole bunch of people's faces. He gave up a first-inning grand slam and was tagged for seven runs in five innings, making it pretty tough for him to justify starting no matter how good that second start is. I know Elder had a 1.88 ERA in his previous four starts, but that came with just 6.8 K/9 and less than two strikeouts for every walk issues, leading to a 5.00 FIP. He's had stretches of utility pretty much every season, but it almost always ends with an ugly ERA, and Elder is back up above 4.00 after this one. I don't think he'll get back below there again, and you can go ahead and drop him in basically all formats.
Christian Scott's limitations keep popping up
Scott remains a tough pitcher to figure out. He's talented, I have little doubt about that. But he's a work in progress, and his value is inherently capped by the way the Mets use him – he has completed six innings just once this season, and it doesn't look like that's going to change much down the stretch. When he's on, you can get five pretty solid innings out of him, and there is real strikeout upside here even with the limitations. But he needed 82 pitches to get through four innings and got hit hard Monday against the Braves, which highlights the slim margin for error – a pitcher with a longer leash might have been able to squeeze an extra inning or two out to repair that ERA a bit, but a slow start in any given outing might just bury Scott. He'll be an interesting sleeper for 2027, but I think he's probably over-rostered at 68% right now.
Extra Innings
Carson Benge missed the moment
Let's go back to Senga's save. Again, it was the first of his big-league career, and in a season where little has gone right, he understandably wanted a keepsake to remember the moment. But rookie outfielder Carson Benge wasn't thinking about that when he recorded the final out of the game, as he tossed the ball into the stands, giving a fan a nice souvenir while costing Senga one. Benge missed Senga motioning for him to keep the ball, but he laughed it off as an apologetic Benge jogged off the field. It was a cute moment in a season that hasn't given the Mets much to smile about, so that was nice.
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