PHILADELPHIA – New York Mets right-hander Kodai Senga will start Game 1 of the National League Division Series against the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday after missing the past two months with a calf injury.

Senga, who is 31 and was the Mets’ best pitcher last season, has not pitched since July 29, when he left his only appearance of the season with a calf injury after 5⅓ innings. Shoulder and triceps injuries had sidelined Senga for the first four months of the season.

Senga and Mets manager Carlos Mendoza were coy when asked how deep into the game Senga could throw. Senga said Mendoza and Mets pitching coach Jeremy Hefner would decide.

“I am prepared for anything,” Senga said. “If they say 10 pitches, I’m all in for 10 pitches. If they say 200, I’m all in for 200 pitches.”

Senga’s return is a welcome sight for the Mets after a run to the division series that depleted their pitching. New York played a doubleheader on Monday – clinching a playoff spot in the first game – and followed it up with games in Milwaukee the next three days. The latter, a dramatic 4-2 come-from-behind victory punctuated by Pete Alonso’s three-run home run in the ninth inning, continued a magical run by a team that was 24-35 in early June.

Senga had hoped to return near the end of the regular season, but was shut down after triceps tightness ended his minor league rehab start on September 22. He continued to work at the Mets’ Florida complex and said he was told Wednesday that if the Mets beat the Brewers and he was healthy, he would start Game 1.

“We went through it with him for a whole year,” Mendoza said. “And the times when he goes out and faces hitters or throws a lot of bullpens and he’s not feeling good, he always lets us know. And that wasn’t the case in this situation. He was the one who approached us, and he wanted to know what we were thinking in case we were here in the division series or potential NLCS.

Senga has been working on his pitching form with live batting practice sessions, and in the last one, Mendoza said, “He threw a lot.”

In his first season with the Mets, Senga was one of the best pitchers in baseball, with a 2.99 ERA over 166⅓ innings and 202 strikeouts. His vaunted “ghost fork,” a devastating split-finger fastball, was among his best swings. and-miss throws in last season’s game.

New York is counting on Senga’s version to return and will need it. Mets and Phillies standout Zack Wheeler will face him in Game 1, adding to the difficulty already inherent in switching from live BP. to more than 40,000 screaming fans at Citizens Bank Park.

“You can get your stuff right into the bullpen, you can dial that all in,” said Mets starter David Peterson, who recorded the save in the wild-card victory and was able to piggyback with Senga in Game 1. “But I think we already playing a lot of high leverage games for a while, and so I think it’s going to be a challenge to get back into that kind of atmosphere, get back up to game speed you’ll be right back.

“But I have no doubt that the work he has put in and the way he has prepared, he is ready for the challenge.”

Senga said that before he was ready to start, he had to “get my physical and mental state in order” – and that once he did that, his previous communication with the team eased the path to a return.

“If I thought it was hard, I wouldn’t be ready,” Senga said. “So I’m ready for (Game 1). And as much as I can control my body and control how the game goes, it’s going to be big.”