The St. Joseph Jokers continued the overhaul of their starting rotation on Thursday, announcing the acquisition of right-hander Kodai Senga (2/$12) from the Lake Merced Goutfish for infielder Matt McClain (Minors) and a 3rd Round Pick (41st Overall).
Senga joins Sonny Gray (2/$2) and Michael Wacha (2/$1) as newcomers to a Jokers rotation that badly needed an infusion of stability after posting the fifth and sixth worst pitching seasons in RDBL History in 2022 and 2023.
Senga's first year in the majors couldn't have gone much better from an individual standpoint, as he made 29 starts and posted a 2.98 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 202:77 K:BB across 166.1 innings. He joined the Mets on a three-year, $45 million contract after spending the first 11 years of his career in Japan, and he ended up being a bright spot on what was mostly a disappointing team in Queens.
The 31-year-old struggled with walks -- his 11.1 percent walk rate was third worst among qualified starters -- but he helped offset the free passes with a 29.1 percent strikeout rate, 0.92 HR/9 and by stranding 80.3 percent of baserunners. A higher 3.87 xERA and 3.77 xFIP are hardly a surprise given his walk totals, so some regression wouldn't be surprising if he's unable to walk the tightrope quite so well in 2024. However, he regularly outperformed his peripherals while in Japan, so there's no reason to expect a precipitous drop after an impressive rookie campaign.
Senga posted 444.0 points over the full 2023 season, adding to the 845.0 points added with the acquisition of Gray and Wacha on Monday. GM Rick Steen has wasted no time improving a rotation that posted just 1,612 points as a full staff last season. All three arms are under team control through 2025.
For the Goutfish, it was a clear a subtraction from a loaded group of pitchers before Draft Day with the market heavily after Senga. McClain ranked 18th in the recent 2024 Pre-Season RDBL Top 100 Prospect List. He was one of baseball’s breakouts in 2023, slashing .290/.357/.507 while taking over the starting shortstop spot for the Cincinnati Reds. He torched Triple-A to start the season, hitting .340/.467/.688 and looks the part of a Top-10 producer at the position over the next three seasons for the Goutfish, joining Rafael Devers, Yordan Alvarez, Ryan McMahon and Christian Walker in a potent offensive lineup.
McLain now clocks in as the third ranked prospect in the Goutfish Farm System, trailing right-handers Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Bobby Miller.
The Goutfish are without a 2nd Round selection currently, but now hold a pair of 3rd Rounders and their own 1st Rounder.
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