Ohio’s Hayden Senger Made The Show!

Hayden Senger, the 27 year old catcher for New York, has made the Mets major league squad coming out of Spring Training. Who is Hayden you might ask? The Ohio-born, Miami University baseball player who works at Whole Foods in Nashville. That’s who!

Say what?

Let’s go back.

Hayden Senger, a 27-year-old catcher that grew up in Ohio, will be part of the Mets’ Opening Day roster, David Stearns announced today.

Senger, who has spent his entire professional career in the Mets organization, has been working at Whole Foods to earn extra money in the… pic.twitter.com/ZmLr8YiUtG

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Senger: High School All-Ohio to Miami

 

Senger was born in Hamilton, halfway between Dayton and Cincinnati, just west of I-75. After graduating from Lakota East High School, Senger found his way to Miami, just a few miles from home. The Ohio Division 1 All-Ohio catcher did not hear from any other school outside Oxford. So Hayden went to Miami.

 

Then Miami coach, Danny Hayden, had this to say about Senger at the time. “With the skill set that he had as a high school recruit, we knew that if we did our jobs with him and Hayden remained motivated that this [MLB call up] was going to be a very likely scenario for him.”

 

His first year was a solid start, hitting .269 with five homers and 20 RBIS playing in 39 games. But in his sophomore year he slumped at the plate, like so many of the young Miami ballplayers. He hit .217, two dingers, fourteen RBIs in 41 games. 

 

“I was able to not pay attention to my at-bats when I was catching because I was still having fun catching,” Senger said. “But whenever I was done catching, I would be like, ‘Oh, now I’ve got to go bat.’ I would not want to go hit BP in extra time or anything. I didn’t want to even hold a baseball bat. That’s how bad I was feeling.”

 

Enter Justin Dedman and his analytics

Dedman was the newly hired Miami hitting coach. Now at Loyola Marymount, Dedman  continued to encourage his catcher. Using analytics, Dedman showed his catcher what and where he was struggling with.

 

“Coach Dedman pulled up my stats with two strikes one time. I think I hit .033 with two strikes the whole season. That’s when I was kind of like, ‘All right, I need to figure something out with my approach to the plate and my mental game.’ That’s when I finally decided to actually listen to what he was telling me.”

 

Junior year was stellar. Changing his stance and grip, he led all Redhawk starters with a .344 average, seventeen doubles, two triples, three dingers and 34 RBIs. When the season ended, he embarked on his summer league season, as most collegiate players do. He was taking batting practice when his agent called his Cape Cod League club telling him he was drafted by the New York Mets. 

 

Senger: Mets and minors and Whole Foods

Senger has spent eight years in the Mets organization, roughly one-third of his entire life. Starting 318 games over this period of time, Hayden has seen or caught many of the Mets pitchers on the starting day roster. 

For the past few winters, Senger latched on with Whole Foods, stocking shelves. He chose this because it would allow him to have time to spend with his wife.

 

“My Apple Watch, I almost hit my calorie goal by 10 o’clock every day,” Senger said. “It’s, like, functional strength.”

 

One off-season his position coach called him to talk. According to Anthony DiComo with MLB.com, Hayden told his coach he had to call back. “Why,” asked his coach. “I’m working!

Go Time for the Mets

There’s a lot of pressure on the club after signing Juan Soto to an astronomical contract. The injury bug hit the Mets with their catching situation. Starting catcher, Francisco Alvarez, broke his hamate bone and will be sidelined for 6-8 weeks. So, the time was right for the call up. New York’s President of operations, David Sterns, said this about his “young” catcher.

 

“It is a good story…He’s not getting the job because it’s a good story. He’s getting the job because we think he can help us win games.” 

 

Sterns also mentioned that “he’s an elite defensive catcher…that pitchers love throwing to.” Remarking to DiComo again, Senger was gobsmacked. “All the years that I put in kind of overwhelmed me. Pretty speechless.”

Today, the Mets take on the Houston Astros in Houston. And sitting on the bench will be the 27 year old, Southwest Ohio Division 1 All Ohio catcher and Miami University catcher, marking his first game in MLB. After years of little league, high school, summer ball, college, and minor league playing baseball, Hayden Senger can say, “I made it!”

 

“I just like taking it day by day,” he said. “I think when you start looking too far into the future at things you can’t really control, that’s when you get disappointed or you lose focus on the now. And the now is what’s important.”

 

And this is why we love baseball! For stories like these on Opening days like this. Here’s hoping he can stay with the club when Alvarez returns. Why not? He was the Mets Platinum Glove winner for best catcher in 2023. Love and Honor, Hayden! (It’s a Miami thing!)

 

Lakota East in the SHOW

 

Hayden becomes only the second person to make the majors from Lakota East according to MLB Reference. Scott McGregor was the first, though he never made it on the active roster and was in the minors his entire career. (Not THE Scott McGregor with Baltimore!)

 

Miami and the Mets connection

 

Grant Hartwig, a freshman on Miami’s club when Senger was a junior, is also on the Mets. He is starting off with Syracuse, but he has spent time with the big club the past two years. Imagine when Hartwig gets up and his former Miami battery mate tells him, “one for fastball, two for curve! Let’s get this guy!”

 

Thanks to Ric Cassano’s great piece in 2018 and Anthony DiComo with MLB.com.