5 overreactions from 2023 MLB Spring Training so far

4. Kodai Senga’s ghost fork is the most unhittable pitch in baseball

The Japanese right-hander finally made his stateside debut with the New York Mets in their Sunday spring training game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

Senga’s full arsenal was on display, including his mysterious “ghost fork” pitch with tons of downward break and movement. He made Cardinals’ top prospect Jordan Walker look downright foolish on it.

All eyes will be on how Senga transitions to MLB after spending the first part of his professional career in Japan. Despite the nasty ghost fork pitch, he does have command issues, which popped up in his start Sunday.

It’s way too early to make any sweeping declarations, but if he can rein in those command issues and deploy the ghost fork to his advantage on a consistent basis, Kodai Senga could be the rotation hero the Mets need in 2023.

5. Jason Heyward finds his old form on the 2023 Los Angeles Dodgers

If you didn’t remember that Jason Heyward signed with the L.A. Dodgers this off-season, we can’t say we blame you.

Heyward latched on as a non-roster invitee to Dodgers camp this spring, and he’s hit a couple long balls as he stakes his claim to a spot on Dave Roberts’ team in 2023. He has competition, of course, but it’s notable that Heyward is reunited with former Braves teammate Freddie Freeman, with whom the former has had his greatest success playing alongside in the big leagues.

Since leaving Atlanta, though, Heyward hasn’t lived up to his prospect billing. Stops in St. Louis and Chicago weren’t tremendously fruitful, though he did become a World Champion in 2016 with the Cubs.

Two early home runs isn’t enough to cement roster status for Heyward on the 2023 Dodgers, but the next month should be telling with respect to his baseball future this season.