When the New York Mets signed pitcher Kodai Senga from Japan this offseason, fans quickly got to learn about the 30-year-old’s signature pitch. And yes, it’s as spooky as it sounds.
Senga — who posted 2.42 ERA during his time in Japan — throws a fastball that tops out at 99 mph to go along with his own off-speed variation of the forkball called a “ghost fork.” It had been his get-out pitch throughout his career in the Japanese NPB, and on Sunday, that pitch was in action for the first time in a regular season MLB game.
The Marlins’ Yuli Gurriel was Senga’s first strikeout victim, and I don’t think anyone could’ve really anticipated the ghost fork doing this to a seasoned big-league hitter.
Kodai Senga, Ghost Fork. 👻🍴
Yuli Gurriel, Ghost Bat.
Senga's 1st Career MLB K. pic.twitter.com/e04s6rHFQR
— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) April 2, 2023
The ghost fork had Gurriel losing his bat in a wild, off-balance swing. That movement truly was something else, and Senga struck out eight batters in the game — all with the ghost fork.
👻👻👻👻👻👻👻👻
Kodai Senga's 8 ghost fork K's in his Mets debut
Averages for the strikeout pitches:
85.3 mph / 1,099 rpm
32 inches drop / 8 inches break pic.twitter.com/0FpHCiUFGc— David Adler (@_dadler) April 2, 2023
The Mets would go on to win, 5-1, behind Senga’s 5.1 innings of three-hit baseball. It’s safe to say that fans took notice to the ghost fork as well.
This was how Twitter reacted
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
Wow. Making them look like Baez https://t.co/yPzKoKVzMx
— Ozymetsdias (@Ozymetsdias) April 2, 2023
Spooky pitch 😬 https://t.co/rYxmXeNioy
— Alex Whitehair (@realgametips) April 2, 2023
Had Gurriel looking crazy lol https://t.co/LbN0DASmo2
— Brandon J. (@BeeSupreme_) April 2, 2023
Oh my… #LGM https://t.co/qS9rQwIMQ6
— John Mincone (@JMincone) April 2, 2023
Filthy. https://t.co/fPPTbXHq8Y
— Richie Alicea (@richiealicea) April 2, 2023
I’m going to love watching this all season. Wow https://t.co/3P62E9ZD7m
— Kris Pursiainen (@krispursiainen) April 2, 2023
Try getting back into baseball for the new rules, stay for the silliness. https://t.co/rrcpvnASHY
— Dan Falkenheim (@thefalkon) April 2, 2023
FILTH https://t.co/n8KRKUCAGy
— Samantha Mingo (@samanthatmingo) April 2, 2023
That’s certainly one way to make an impression.
