“I was excited about the first performance.”

Japanese pitcher Senga Kodai, who will challenge the US major league stage wearing a New York Mets uniform, successfully played his first game.토토사이트

On the 6th (Korean time), Senga took the mound as a starter in an exhibition game against the St. Louis Cardinals held at Jupiter Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium in Florida, USA.

Senga, who played for the Softbanks Hawks in Japan, signed a contract with the Mets for 5 years and 75 million dollars (approximately 97.5 billion won). He is a powerful pitcher with his fastball, which runs well over 150 km, and his main weapon, the forkball.

It was a tense game. It’s called an exhibition match, but it was the first real match on the American stage. Numerous Japanese reporters came to the stadium to see him. In addition, the new ‘pitch timer’ regulation introduced from this season was also taken care of. And the opponent St. Louis was waiting for the best hitters such as Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenaro.

In the first inning, he gave up a walk to the first two batters, showing a nervous appearance. However, he passed the first inning safely by catching Goldschmidt and Arenado. He threw 27 balls, but the important thing was that he didn’t score.

However, perhaps because he relaxed too much, he allowed a home run to his opponent, Tres Barrera, in the second inning with two outs, and finished pitching the two innings that day. He threw 42 pitches in 2 innings, giving up 1 run on 1 hit, walking 2 and striking out 2. 24 strikes. The enormously powerful forkball was also shown to American fans for the first time that day.

“It was a good experience,” Senga said after the match, saying he was “excited to play.” When I went up, I was busy looking at the clock. I couldn’t enjoy it as much as I wanted.”

The pitch timer is a new rule introduced by the MLB Secretariat from this season to reduce game time. The pitcher must throw the ball within 15 seconds if there is no runner, and within 20 seconds if there is a runner. If the time limit is exceeded, a ball is declared. Conversely, the batter must finish preparing to hit in the batter box before the pitcher’s pitching time limit is 8 seconds. If not, a strike is called.

Manager Buck Showalter gave Senga a passing grade in his first practice. “He showed everything we wanted to see. It was the first game. I’m proud of him. The fastball was as solid as I’ve heard and the breaking ball was good,” he said. “The two walks in the first inning were related to the pitch timer. But it soon settled. He’s a good player and he’s smart. I’m happy with his pitching today.”