Exclusive: Mets' Kodai Senga tells us why his 'ghost forkball' pitch lives up to the hype
PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — It is arguably the most mystifying pitch heading into the 2023 Major League Baseball season, and it comes with a mysterious name.
The ghost forkball.
Kodai Senga's signature pitch, which he refers to as a splitter, will be arriving in a ballpark near you this season after the 30-year-old Japanese standout signed a five-year, $75 million deal to bolster the middle of the Mets' starting rotation.
Only a few people have seen it up close, and it has lived up to the hype so far.
"It’s just a really unique shape," Pete Alonso said after facing Senga during live batting practice Sunday afternoon. "I don’t really have anything to base it off. It’s like it’s own pitch. It’s a pretty good one."
The Record and NorthJersey.com caught up with Senga and his interpreter Hiro Fujiwara this week to discuss everything that goes into the elusive pitch, from the grip to the name, and trying to use it effectively in the big leagues:
When did you first start throwing the ghost fork?
Senga: "In 2013 when I was coming out of the 'pen actually is when I started practicing the splitter, and that’s how it came about.
"I don’t know if it was the way I was practicing, but I was throwing it just playing catch for a while, but I got off the mound in a bullpen one time and it just came to me instantly."
Kodai Senga:Here are his first impressions of Mets spring training
Where does the name 'ghost fork' come from?
Senga: "I don’t know who named it for me but it came from the hitters, saying, ‘It just disappeared. It just disappeared,’ and then it turned into the ghost fork."
How would you describe the grip on the baseball?
(Senga's middle finger sits in the middle of the baseball, while his thumb is on the side of the ball on the seam.)
Senga: "Pointer finger on the seam, that’s where a lot of the pressure is on the ball. ... It was called a forkball in Japan, but when I throw it, it’s not like I’m actually gripping the ball between my two fingers. Technically, it’s probably a splitter, but you guys can call it whatever you want."
When you're throwing the ghost fork well, how does the ball react?
Senga: "The best is when it’s really doing the 'ghost' thing where hitters are seeing it up in the zone, they start swinging up in the zone and then it just falls off the table and dips down."
How does the pitch work with the rest of your repertoire?
Senga: "The splitter is something I use as a metric to see how I’m feeling that day. If the splitter is good, the rest of my pitches are going to be good. If the splitter’s not as great that day, my other pitches probably won’t be as great either."
How do you work into a rhythm with the ghost fork?
Senga: "Usually I like to throw it a lot in catch play before getting off the mound. The other day throwing before the bullpen, I was playing catch with a fellow pitcher, so I didn’t throw it very much on flat ground, but usually more on flat ground and less on the mound."
How excited are you to see how it plays in the major leagues?
Senga: "It’s been a dream of mine to be able to play in the big leagues and come abroad over here. To finally be able to get that opportunity, I’m really excited to face some really good hitters."
What are your catchers saying about the action of the pitch?
"After last time’s bullpen with (Tomas) Nido, he asked me about how I wanted it to move and how it usually looks and where we want it in the zone and stuff like that. We’re definitely communicating."