Kodai Senga is quietly piecing together a Cy Young Award season for the Mets.

After his six-inning, no-decision against the Rockies, Senga maintained his 6-3 record with a league-low 1.59 ERA and 65 strikeouts in 68 innings. Senga also leads the league in ERA-plus at 238 and has a 0.5 HR9 (home runs per innings), allowing four homers.

In his rookie season, Senga recorded a 12-7 won-loss record, a 2.98 ERA, 202 strikeouts in 166.1 innings while starting 29 games. He was the runner-up for Rookie-of-the-Year. Last season, Senga’s season was ravaged by injuries, but he did start Game One of the NLCS against the Phillies and appeared in two NLCS games against the Dodgers.

Senga is among a handful of Japanese starting pitchers who made their new home in American ballparks. Aside from Senga, there are other Japanese pitchers this season who have achieved some long-standing success, but none worthy of Hall of Fame material.

Making Their Mark ... Aside from Senga, there have been other Japanese pitchers who have made an impact this season, mostly positive than negative.

The Dodgers’ Yoshinobo Yamamato and Roki Sasaki have both made their presence felt. Yamamato appears to be on the track the Dodgers had envisioned for him as a top-tier starter.

Yamamoto has a 6-4 record with a 2.20 ERA in 13 starts with 86 strikeouts in 73.2 innings. In his first season last year, Yamamoto had a 7-2 mark with a 3.00 ERA with 105 strikeouts in 90 innings over 18 games.

Sasaki hasn’t yet found his rhythm with a 1-1 record and a 4.72 ERA in eight starts.

The Cubs’ Shota Imanaga has posted a 3-2 record with a 2.82 ERA in eight starts, while the Angels’ Yusei Kikuchi is 1-5 with a 3.23 ERA in 13 starts, but leads the American League with 40 walks. The Tigers’ Keata Maeda has struggled with a winless record and a 7.88 ERA in seven games.

If you’re a baseball junkie, you may remember Maeda’s rookie season when he went 16-11 with a 3.48 ERA in 32 games with 179 strikeouts in 175.2 innings. He finished third in the Rookie-of-the-Year voting.

But Maeda has been an average pitcher since then, going 52-45 over the last eight seasons, missing the 2022 campaign. Maeda was recently released and signed by the Cubs to a minor-league deal.

Veteran 38-year-old Padres’ starter Yu Darvish recently made a rehab start, and doesn’t have a timeline for his return from an elbow inflammation. Darvish was 7-3 with a 3.31 ERA in 16 starts last season.

Darvish arguably has been the one of the most successful Japanese pitchers ever with an overall mark of 110-88 and a 3.58 ERA over 12 seasons. His most impressive stat is 2,007 strikeouts over 1,709 innings.

One Is the Loneliest Number ... In the offseason, the Phillies signed their first Japanese pitcher in 31-year-old veteran Koyo Aoyasi.

He currently is with the IronPigs and has an 0-1 record with a 7.94 ERA in 17 innings.

“Mashi” Began It ... In 1964, the Giants signed Japanese pitcher Masanori “Mashi” Murakami as a free agent before the season. He made his debut at the age of 19 against the Mets on Sept. 1.

Murakami spent two seasons with the Giants before he returned to Japan. Overall, Murakami went 5-1 with a 3.43 ERA in 54 games, recording 100 strikeouts in 89 innings.

There Wasn’t No-Mo ... After Murakami, the next Japanese pitcher on the scene was Hideo Nomo, who won the National League Rookie-of-the-Year in 1995.

Known for his wicked forkball, Nomo went 13-6 with a 2.54 ERA, and led the league in strikeouts (236), shutouts (3), wild pitches (19), strikeouts per nine innings (11.1), and hits allowed per nine innings (5.9).

Nomo compiled an overall 81-66 record with a 3.74 ERA in seven seasons with the Dodgers in 191 games. He threw a no-hitter against the Rockies on Sept. 17, 1996. He had two stints with the Dodgers, one from 1995 to June of 1998 (he was traded to the Mets), and the other from 2002-04.

Surprisingly, Nomo had one-year stops with the Mets, Red Sox, Tigers, Brewers, Rays and Royals. He threw a second no-hitter as a Red Sox against the Orioles on April 4, 2001.

In 12 seasons, Nomo registered a 123-109 record with a 4.34 ERA in 323 games — 318 of them starts.

If you remember, Nomo was briefly property of the Phillies when he was selected off waivers from the Brewers on Oct. 28, 1999. However, he was granted free agency the next day.

New York State of Mound ... The Mets lead the majors with a 2.81 team ERA, while the Yankees are 11th overall with a 3.67 ERA. Pitching has been a major reason for both teams vying for the league’s best record over the last two months with the Phillies and Dodgers.

Besides Senga, the Yankees’ Max Fried is tied for the league lead with eight wins and 13 starts along with his 1.78 ERA and 77 strikeouts in 81 innings. Fellow Yankee Carlos Rodon continues to have a banner season with his 8-3 mark, 13 starts, 2.49 ERA and 98 strikeouts in 79.2 innings.

On the Mets’ side, Griffin Canning has been a major reclamation project under pitching coach Jeremy Hefner. Canning was 6-13 with a 5.19 ERA and allowed a league-high 99 earned runs last season, and had a career mark of 25-34 with a 4.78 ERA over five seasons with the Angels.

This season, the 29-year-old right-hander has been one of the most effective pitchers in baseball with his 6-2 mark and 2.90 ERA. Whether he can maintain his pace the rest of the season is the question. The Mets signed him for a song as a free agent, and it was another brilliant move by Mets’ GM David Stearns.

On the Yankees’ side, 33-year-old journeyman Ryan Yarbrough has been their major surprise. Signed as a free agent in late March after a stay with the Dodgers last season, Yarbrough is 3-1 with a 4.17 ERA with six starts in his 14 games. He struck out 43 in his first 45.1 innings and has filled a gap in the staff. Yarbrough gained all three of his wins in his first five starts, where he had a 2.07 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 26 innings.

However, Yarbrough, who relies on his off-speed stuff, had his worst outing Saturday against the Red Sox in a 10-7 loss.

Rounding Out the Top 10 ... Besides the Mets, the top 10 teams in team ERA are, starting with the second-ranked Giants, 3.04; Rangers, third, 3.12, Tigers, fourth, 3.20; Royals, fifth, 3.28; Padres, sixth, 3.48; Rays, seventh, 3.52; Astros, eighth, 3.52; Twins, ninth, 3.53; and Cubs, 10th, 3.66.

The Phillies are ranked 20th with a 4.04 mark.

Worth the Wait ... Mets’ reliever, 35-year-old Huascar Brazoban, and Yankees’ contemporary 32-year-old, Fernando Cruz, certainly took the long way to the majors.

Brazoban has been one of the surprises in the Mets’ pen with his 3-1, 1.72 slate in 28 games. Last season, he was 0-1 with a 5.14 ERA in 19 games.

Brazoban initially began with the Rockies’ organization in 2012 and made it to Double-A and various Winter and Independent leagues until his debut with the Marlins in 2022. He was traded by the Marlins to the Mets for single-A prospect Wilfredo Lara before last season.

Cruz, who has a 1-2 record with a 2.84 ERA, had a similar path beginning with the Royals’ Rookie League team in 2011. He worked up to the Cubs Triple-A team, as well as his share of Winter leagues, until he made his debut with the Reds in 2022.

Time Passages ... Each week, I’ll look back at a former player, team, or situation from our favorite pastime.

Through the years, the Phillies have had players who have played in Japan and other countries.

Among those who spent some time were Phillies’ alums Scott Mathieson, Rhys Hopkins, Carlos Santana, John Bowker, and former manager Gabe Kapler.

Tom Hilgendorf pitched in South Africa, and Darrin Ruf spent some time in South Korea. In his first year there, Ruf hit 31 homers and drove in 124 runs, and hit .315. Over his three years in Korea, Ruf bopped 86 homers, had 350 RBIs and hit .317.

On A Football Note ... Check out the Times News Lehighton Facebook page. There is a poll asking whether the Eagles have improved their defense in the offseason. Take a minute to vote and submit a comment that will be published in this week’s “Inside the Huddle” football column.

Your thoughts are always welcomed and will be published; email them to tnsports@tnonline.com