Another no-scoreless performance by Chiga put himself in the discussion of the National League Yang Award

Every time Chiga strikes out at Citi Park, the scoreboard displays his name in rainbow font in 1990s-style font — a nod to the logo of the video game company Sega, after all, "Senga" and "Sega" are like each other.

Fittingly, the right-hand pitcher's 2025 season start is as exaggerated as a video game.

After a 3-0 win over the Cardinals on Saturday afternoon, Chiga's four-game starting ERA dropped to 0.79, leading the National League behind former Mets pitcher Chris Bassitt (0.77). Since conceding four points in the opening game of the season on April 1 (2 blame), he has not conceded 18.2 consecutive games (including the last game of the first game), and his WHIP value of 0.97 leads the Mets starting rotation by a wide margin.

Against the Cardinals, 74% of Chiga's balls were concentrated in the four-seam speedball and the "ghost ghost forkball", and the four strikeouts were all from the ghost ghost fork ball, and he was hit 3 hits and 2 save. The average speed of the speedball is 95mph, which is slightly higher than the season average.

"Chiga is a different pitcher today than she was against the Athletics," said coach Carlos Mendoza, "and the four-seam speedball became a lethal weapon, creating a three-dimensional attack with a forkball. "

Chiga only threw 8 cart balls in this game, compared to the previous 29% use rate of Sportsman speedballs. But no matter how the opponent adjusts, his signature magic ball is always the same.

"Every team, every hitter is keeping an eye on the fork," Chiga said through a translator Hiroshi Fujiwara, "but [catcher] Luis Torrens has a brilliant match, I just have to execute." "

The game was not all smooth sailing: the Cardinals all scored points in the second, fifth and sixth innings. Brett Baty, the third baseman in the fifth inning, still instigated a home plate assassination in the deep defense, and Reed Garrett, a backing up in the sixth inning, defused the full base crisis. Chiga's self-evaluation: "Once again, luck favors you, and the lineup is indispensable." "

After experiencing the haze of injuries in the 2024 season, it is easy to forget the glory of Chiga's 2023 rookie year: 12 wins, 7 defeats, and a self-blame rate of 2.98, the second vote of the National League Rookie King, and the seventh in the Saiyan Award. Now he's getting back to his peak form – he had strikeouts of 10.9 per nine innings and five double-digit strikeouts.

"As the amount of pitching accumulates, the body gradually adjusts to the intensity of the game," Chiga admits, "and the gap between the ideal and the actual pitching effect is narrowing." Staying healthy and staying on board is key. "

The two disconcerted performances in the 2024 Nations League Championship may leave bitter memories, but if the current form continues, the 2025 Mets will have the absolute trump card they lost last year.

"It doesn't matter who the opponent is or whether the opponent sends an ace or not, when Chiga gets the ball on the board, we have a lot of confidence," Mendoza concluded, "and that's exactly what the team needs to be able to play at the top level." "