When Kodai Senga delivered a 99-mph (159.3-kph) fastball to Luis Arraez of the Miami Marlins on April 2, he became the 14th Japanese player to appear in a game for the New York Mets, the most of any team in the major leagues. The Seattle Mariners are next with 11.
It is a connection fostered over the years, with enthusiastic support from Bobby Valentine, the former Mets manager, who has led teams in both the United States and Japan. And the pipeline, it appears, goes both ways: This season, five of the 12 managers in Nippon Professional Baseball spent at least part of their playing careers with the Mets.
Rookie managers Masato Yoshii of the Chiba Lotte Marines and Kazuo Matsui of the Seibu Lions, along with Tsuyoshi Shinjo, the second-year manager of the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, all made their major league debuts with the Mets. Shingo Takatsu of the Tokyo Yakult Swallows and Kazuhisa Ishii of the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles played in the Queens borough of New York City after starting elsewhere.