The Japanese right-hander only needs a couple of innings to rack up three strikeouts, which is exactly what he did in that aforementioned Game 1 against Philadelphia. Senga is an elite strikeout talent as he finished last season in the top quarter of the league in both whiff and strikeout rates. In his limited sample size this year, Senga posted an astounding 30% whiff rate and 45% strikeout rate. He’s only faced the Dodgers once prior to Sunday, but it was a dominant outing in which he collected nine strikeouts through six innings of work. That puts him right at the number we need for the two-inning minimum we're likely to see from Senga, with the added upside of New York potentially allowing the former NPB All-Star to pitch deeper into the game.
Kodai Senga o2.5 strikeouts (-102)