The Mets pulled off an early upset of the first game. The Phillies are formulating their plan to respond

PHILADELPHIA – A group of Philadelphia Phillies players gathered Thursday night at Nick Castellanos’ home in South Jersey to watch some baseball. Cook-offs were a regular occurrence during the season. Trea Turner and his wife even hosted a hibachi night. This was different.

“It was probably the first time we’d ever done it and actually watched baseball,” catcher JT Realmuto said.

This is new territory for the Phillies, who were content to watch from afar as chaos unfolded in October. They knew Thursday night, after Pete Alonso’s sensational home run, that they would meet the New York Mets in the National League Division Series. But they didn’t know who would play for New York in the first game. As they crept onto the field at Citizens Bank Park for another workout, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza revealed his surprise.

That would be Kodai Senga, who made one appearance in the majors this season. He will step onto the mound as a complete unknown. “If they say 10 throws, then I agree to 10 throws,” Senga said through an interpreter. “If they say 200, I order 200.” The Phillies haven’t been able to keep tabs on Cenga over the past few weeks because he’s been pitching to young Mets players while hidden away at the club’s Florida complex.

Senga told the Mets he wanted to play. It may last a while. Maybe two. If he plays well, the Mets will have to keep him longer.

“We have a plan,” Mendoza said.

The Phillies are trying to decode it. The NLDS will start with some trickery; These competitors are unable to do normal things. The game will start in the late afternoon, and many players said they expect shadows to be a factor as well as disorganized display plans. This much is clear: The Phillies have a huge advantage with starter Zach Wheeler. By turning to Senga, the Mets want to create chaos.

Their intent is clear: Senga is there to silence the top of the Phillies lineup. Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper and Turner were 1-for-13 with six strikeouts and two walks against Senga last season when the Japanese import impressed as a rookie.

Kodai Senja 8th and 9th KS. pic.twitter.com/MEsnb6eG6u

– Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 31, 2023

“It’s just kind of an unknown,” Schwarber said. “How many pitches does he have?”

Who comes after him?

“I think that’s kind of a fun thing,” Schwarber said. “Right? We should be able to do what we do.”

After a full infield batting practice — which included a rare hitting session for Harper on the field — the Phillies held a lengthy hitters’ meeting. They have these meetings before every series. Armed with the knowledge that Senja would start, this was the first time they could discuss scenarios.

“I just played two series for these guys in the last month,” Schwarber said. “You don’t see it. No one’s really seen it. You have video of a minor league start and things like that, but you don’t really know. You expect normalcy. That’s the biggest thing. And then you adjust from there. You expect he’ll be the guy he was.” If I prove otherwise, you must make an amendment.

The Phillies spent all day Friday trying to unravel New York’s plan. They don’t want to be unprepared. The work included a meeting with two scouts who had been watching the Mets for a few weeks. There’s a lot of familiarity involved, so the pre-report focused on how Mendoza uses his team and the smallest weaknesses (or spots) that can be uncovered.

What the Mets do after Senga is no less important. If David Peterson is left-handed for a significant portion of the innings, that could push Rob Thompson toward a starting lineup with fewer left-handed hitters. Peterson, who has been a starter all season, shut out Game 3 of the Wild Card Series against the Milwaukee Brewers. It was his first relief appearance since July 2023.

Peterson has played with a day or zero rest days only twice in his career. The Mets do not have a reliable left-handed reliever. So, internally, the Phillies believe Peterson could move into a full-time reliever role in the NLDS. He has solid career numbers (1-for-16, 10 strikeouts) against Schwarber. But Harper crushed him with eight hits in 19 at-bats.

This leads the Phillies to believe that Taylor Miguel, who was considered the starter in Game 1, is a big-time reliever after Senga. The Phillies saw Miguel in September. He was effective in four innings but needed 83 pitches.

Thompson won’t wave his hand when it comes to lineup decisions. He’ll have more obvious hits to do in Games 3 and 4 when New York starts using the left-hander. Without a traditional left-handed reliever in the Mets bullpen, Thompson could have two effective lineups in the same game.

“It’ll come into play a little bit, but it’ll be more about the starting pitcher, and then we’ll adjust from there,” Thompson said.

The decision in Senja is indicative of the uncertainty in New York about its fold. Jose Boto and Phil Maton, two reliable relievers, had late collapses in Milwaukee. Edwin Diaz threw 105 pitches last week. Ryne Stanek and Reed Garrett have leadership issues but are becoming more important.

Senga had a strong chase rate last season. The Mets will test the patience of the Phillies’ aggressive lineup.

“I feel like he’s a guy that can be in the zone especially early, and that’s what sets up all his other stuff,” Schwarber said. “That spike ball, or whatever you want to call it, has a lot of movement. It’s a tough move. You don’t see that very often. We have to really focus on where we want to get the ball.”

Schwarber was pleased with the team’s work during the bye week. He said the hitters took their bats like real bats. He noticed that players who don’t normally do fast machine work were in the cage against it this week.

It’s almost here.

“I can’t wait to wake up,” Schwarber said.

(Bryce Harper Photo: Chris Szagola/The Associated Press)