Japanese pitcher Kodai Senga immediately endeared himself to the New York Mets faithful when he gave his introductory speech in English. The 29-year-old made the effort to write out a short and concise speech before his first press conference for the Mets.
The Mets signed Senga to a five-year, $75 million contract earlier this month. Settling in a new country is never easy, but Senga has started on the right foot with the New Yorkers.
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In @kodaisenga‘s recent Instagram post, he shared the English note he prepared for his press conference opening statement 🧡💙(via IG/kodai_senga_) https://t.co/D4b0nUnst3
A piece of paper with his speech was recently released on Twitter and seemed to strike a chord with baseball fans everywhere. MLB fans have yet to see Senga throw a pitch in the majors and they already love him.
Kodai Senga posted this to his IG stories yesterday. He hasn’t thrown a single pitch for the Mets, and I already love this dude. 🇯🇵🤙🏼 https://t.co/dFH7Mnpg9y
Kodai Senga waited longer than other Japanese players to join the MLB but he has an excellent reputation in Japan. He had an overall record of 104-52 over an 11-year career with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks. During that spell, he finished with a phenomenal 2.42 ERA.
The starting pitcher also represented Japan in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, where he was selected to the All-Tournament team.
Kodai Senga had a 104-52 win-loss record and a 2.42 ERA with the Fukuoka Softbank Hawks
