Sean

Manaea

Manaea has consistently topped three innings over six relief appearances this season and holds a pedestrian 4.66 ERA across 19 1/3 innings of work during that span. There’s been zero indication that the Mets are considering moving him back to the rotation despite Kodai Senga and David Peterson scuffling in addition to Christian Scott getting lit up in his return to the majors earlier this week.

Mendoza added that they haven’t assessed whether Senga will make his next start, but he’s still getting the dreaded vote of confidence after being lit up for seven runs over 3 1/3 innings during Friday’s meltdown against the Cubs. The 33-year-old was tagged for six hits, including a pair of homers, in the abbreviated outing. It’s easy to write off one wind-fueled poor outing as an aberration, but Senga has coughed up seven runs in back-to-back outings. It would most likely be veteran lefty Sean Manaea, or someone like top pitching prospect Jonah Tong, moving into the rotation if New York decides to make a change. His stuff would certainly play up in shorter bursts out of the bullpen. It’s been a disastrous season for the Mets overall, but they’re sticking with Senga for now.

Manaea now has a 2.25 ERA in 12 innings out of the pen, but his velocity still isn’t coming back; he topped out at 90.5 mph and averaged 89.2 mph with his fastball today. The Mets still might turn to him as their sixth starter at some point, but expectations shouldn’t be very high.

Manaea struck out two batters on the night while issuing a pair of free passes. He came on for a struggling David Peterson in the fifth inning and wound up going the rest of the way for the Mets, allowing just a solo homer to Rafael Devers in the sixth inning. Manaea generated six swings and misses on 74 pitches on the evening, posting a CSW of 24 percent. He now holds a 2.25 ERA, a miserable 2.25 WHIP and a 4/4 K/BB ratio over 4 1/3 innings in two appearances on the season.

Mendoza added that David Peterson will follow Opening Day starter Freddy Peralta before McLean gets the ball on Sunday against the Pirates at Citi Field. He’ll be followed by Clay Holmes and Kodai Senga with Sean Manaea being used in a piggyback role, as needed. The hard-throwing 24-year-old top pitching prospect will make his season debut with an extremely favorable matchup at home after a starring role in the World Baseball Classic earlier this month. He’s a top-25 range fantasy starter in remaining drafts.

Manaea retired all 12 batters he faced, needing just 52 pitches (36 strikes) to navigate four perfect frames. The big concern remains his velocity, which has been down all spring, as he was sitting just 88.6 mph on his four-seam fastball in this outing. The 34-year-old veteran southpaw will pitch at the back end of New York’s rotation following last year’s injury-marred season where he posted a disastrous 5.64 ERA (4.00 xERA), 1.22 WHIP and 75/12 K/BB ratio across 60 2/3 innings over 15 appearances (12 starts). He’s merely a late-round option for fantasy purposes this spring and will go undrafted in most leagues.

He struck out four, but continued to struggle with decreased velocity, telling beat writers that he “doesn’t have an explanation” for it but isn’t “concerned” at this point. Manaea’s fastball averaged just 89 mph and topped out at 90.4. He also managed just two whiffs on 37 fastballs and sweepers. Manaea may or may not turn this around at some point, but it’s hard to advocate for anybody to stream him with these underlying metrics.

The 34-year-old southpaw walked one and struck out one on the evening. The lone blemish on his night came on a solo shot by Connor Norby in the bottom of the first inning. Unfortunately for Manaea, that did him in as the Mets couldn’t scratch out a single run for him. Manaea got just one swing and miss on 33 pitches in the contest, posting a miserable CSW of only 12 percent. As long as he continues to perform and stay healthy, Manaea should have a spot in the Mets’ rotation — at least to open the season.

David Peterson, Nolan McLean, Clay Holmes, Kodai Senga and Sean Manaea would seem to be the Mets’ rotation for the moment, with prospects Jonah Tong, Christian Scott, Brandon Sproat and journeyman Cooper Criswell in reserve. Depth is nice, but getting a true upgrade is going to be expensive. It’s already possible that one or two of those prospects are better than the team’s veterans.

Good news. It seems like Manaea is being written off by some after his oblique and elbow issues and his 5.64 ERA last season, but he had an exceptional 75/12 K/BB in 60 2/3 innings while healthy. Assuming that he has a spot in the Mets rotation, he’ll make a lot of sense as a late-round pick in mixed leagues.