Sean

Manaea

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.

Manaea was expected to require offseason surgery to remove loose bodies from his pitching elbow, but there’s some optimism he’ll avoid a procedure after finishing the regular season feeling healthy. The 33-year-old lefty finished a disappointing, injury-marred campaign with a bloated 5.64 ERA across 60 2/3 innings over 15 appearances (12 starts).

Manaea recorded three of his five outs via the strikeout in the ballgame. Playing for their playoff life though, the Mets were trying to pull out all of the stops and rely heavily on their bullpen in this one, so after Manaea issued his second walk of the inning he got the quick hook. The 33-year-old southpaw finishes the season with a 5.64 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and a 75/12 K/BB ratio over 60 2/3 innings in his 15 appearances.

The Mets did their part on Saturday, defeating the Marlins 5-0 to keep their Wild Card hopes alive. Their hopes now rest on Manaea on Sunday, though they’ll also need the Reds to lose at least once — either on Saturday night or on Sunday against the Brewers. The 33-year-old southpaw holds a 5.80 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and a 72/10 K/BB ratio over 59 innings in 14 appearances (11 starts) for the Mets this season.

Manaea struck out three and walked none, but three of the four hits he gave up came in the second, with the third being a homer. Manaea opened the fourth, but he was replaced by Holmes after a Pete Alonso error to start the inning. With the Mets limited to two runs today, Manaea fell to 2-4. He’ll likely pitch in some capacity next weekend against the Marlins and isn’t a bad play then, especially if he winds up being used as a bulk guy.

Manaea draws the starting assignment for Sunday’s series finale against the Nationals with Clay Holmes to follow in a piggyback role. The limited workload eliminates his fantasy appeal outside of deeper mixed leagues. The 33-year-old southpaw has pitched well earlier this week in a five-inning relief outing against the Padres, which is a good sign for the Mets heading towards the postseason.