Sunday School: Forgotten Faces of Flushing #86: Masato Yoshii: When the Ghost Fork Leads to an Old Memory

Last week, we went back into the Mets' memory bank and pulled out Gene Clines—one of those players who spent just enough time in Flushing to become part of Mets history, but not quite enough to become part of Mets trivia night.

And that's really the fun of Forgotten Faces of Flushing.

The stars are easy to remember.

It's the guys who were here for a year or two, played 100 games, won 10 games, hit a few big home runs—or simply wore the uniform—that tend to disappear into the baseball attic.

This week's forgotten face came back to me for a very different reason.

Kodai Senga.

More specifically, Senga's struggles this season.

The Mets pitcher who once made hitters look foolish with his disappearing Ghost Fork has spent much of 2026 looking more like the ghost than the guy throwing it.

Through 21 appearances, Senga is 0-9 with a 7.79 ERA, allowing 45 earned runs in 52 innings. He's still striking people out—62 of them—but he's also walked 36.

That is a long way from his spectacular 2023 rookie season, when Senga went 12-7 with a 2.98 ERA, struck out 202 and made the All-Star team.

Watching it all unfold somehow sent me back to another Japanese pitcher who once wore a Mets uniform.

Masato Yoshii.

And yes, before we go any further, I know what you're thinking.

Yoshi?

As in the little green Nintendo character?

Exactly.

Except this Yoshi wasn't jumping over pipes or swallowing turtles.

He was trying to get Major League hitters out.

The Other Japanese Met

Yoshii arrived in New York in 1998 at age 33 after a successful career in Japan. He had originally been a reliever before transitioning into the starting rotation and eventually became a free agent.

The Mets signed him, passing up some larger offers to come to New York.

He rewarded them with two fairly solid seasons.

In 1998, Yoshii went 6-8 with a 3.93 ERA in 29 starts, throwing 171⅔ innings.

In 1999, he improved to 12-8, although his ERA climbed to 4.40.

Over his two seasons with the Mets, Yoshii was 18-16 with a 4.17 ERA, throwing 345⅔ innings and striking out 222.

He wasn't an ace.

He wasn't a disaster.

He was something Mets fans of that era probably appreciated more than we realized at the time:

A guy who took the ball every five days and gave you a chance.

And that's where the comparison with Senga gets interesting.

Senga's four-year Mets totals are 20-22 with a 3.74 ERA, 337 innings and 382 strikeouts.

Yoshii actually threw 8⅔ more innings for the Mets despite making 13 fewer appearances.

But Senga has been a much bigger strikeout pitcher—10.2 per nine innings compared with Yoshii's 5.8.

Different eras.

Different pitchers.

Different expectations.

And, unfortunately for Senga, a very different 2026.

Yoshii's Mets career ended after the 1999 season when the Mets traded him to Colorado in a salary-saving move, receiving left-hander Bobby Jones in return.

His career continued with the Rockies and Expos before he returned to Japan in 2003.

And this is where the Yoshii story gets really interesting.

He kept pitching.

In 2006, he became just the fifth Japanese pitcher to record victories against 12 different Japanese professional teams.

Then, in 2007, at age 42, Yoshii started against an 18-year-old pitcher named Masahiro Tanaka.

Yoshii threw five shutout innings and got the win.

Not bad for a guy who had already spent five seasons pitching in the Major Leagues.

Yoshii retired later that year and moved into coaching.

Eventually, he became a manager.

And in 2026, he's managing the Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles.

So while Mets fans may have forgotten Masato Yoshii, baseball certainly didn't.

That's what made Senga's struggles trigger the memory.

It's not that Senga and Yoshii were particularly similar pitchers.

They weren't.

Senga's 2023 season alone was something Yoshii never approached in the Major Leagues.

But sometimes baseball memories don't need a logical explanation.

A name.

A pitch.

A Japanese pitcher.

A Mets uniform.

And suddenly you're back at Shea.

For Senga, it's the Ghost Fork.

For me, it was a reminder of the guy who came before him.

Masato Yoshii.

Two Japanese pitchers.

Two very different careers.

And one more name rescued from the forgotten faces of Flushing.