There are a lot of pitchers in Major League Baseball throwing some really nasty stuff these days and now, we can add another name to that list of guys: Kodai Senga.
The Mets’ 30-year-old rookie made his debut on Sunday and he picked up his first strike out with a pitch called a ghost fork. It was his best pitch during his Japanese baseball league years and now, it’s going to be a problem for lots of hitters in MLB.
Miami’s Yuli Gurriel had absolutely no chance on this pitch in the first inning of Sunday's game:
Kodai Senga, Ghost Fork. 👻🍴
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 2, 2023
Yuli Gurriel, Ghost Bat.
Senga's 1st Career MLB K. pic.twitter.com/e04s6rHFQR
Here's a cool overlay that shows you just how much movement that pitch has at the very end:
You don’t really appreciate it till you see the overlay… that’s impossible to hit https://t.co/Ww9Mi01Bxv
— ItsDJ (@PhotobombChamp) April 3, 2023
Here's another ghost fork later in the game:
Kodai Senga, Disgusting 85mph Ghost Fork. 🤮👻🍴
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 2, 2023
5th K thru 4 pic.twitter.com/yumuVGXaiu
Senga struck out eight batters and got the win after giving up just one run in 5 1/3 innings.
He also has a cool ghost on his glove:
KODAI SENGA GHOST FORK GLOVE ALERT
— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) April 2, 2023
👻 🍴 pic.twitter.com/DscGTuqoYf
Fans had reactions to his ghost fork:
You know it’s a good pitch when a pitcher does this to Yuli Gurriel, who has a 6.7% swinging strike rate for his entire major league career. https://t.co/FsUZSuRuZd
— Astros Stats (@astro_numbers) April 2, 2023
can’t stop watching this. 916 spin rate, almost 400 rpm less than avg, with 33 inches of vbreak. looks hittable 99% of the way. that ball gets released middle. moves glove side. then arm side. then falls off. grossss https://t.co/PYSgkGg5fh
— LFGM (@metsarebest2) April 3, 2023
Kodai Senga recorded a 47.1 PutAway% on his ghost fork in his debut yesterday afternoon. #Mets https://t.co/MkVrnFr6aH
— Mathew Brownstein (@MBrownstein89) April 3, 2023
