Whether Sean Manaea returns to the Mets rotation is yet to be seen, but the left-hander’s performance in Thursday’s loss to the Giants was a good sign for the club.
In relief of David Peterson, who allowed six runs over 4.1 innings, Manaea gave the team and their bullpen some much-needed rest by finishing the game.
Manaea wasn’t perfect; he allowed a run on four hits and two walks in his 3.2 innings against his former team, but what he showed on the mound was enough for manager Carlos Mendoza to be impressed.
“It was a positive step there. He was aggressive, fastball had life. Got some swings and misses and for him to finish that game and save the bullpen, it’s huge,” Mendoza said after the game. “Talking about Manaea, personally, can build on this one. There were a lot of good signs out of this one today.”
“Felt really, really good,” Manaea said of his outing. “Was kinda grindy there in the seventh. Lost a little, but locked it in, and the eighth inning felt really, really good.”
That seventh is where Manaea pitched into trouble. After getting the first two outs, the Giants hit back-to-back singles and Manaea walked the bases loaded. He got out of it by getting Rafael Devers — who homered off of him in the sixth — to ground out to end the threat. With the Mets playing their sixth straight game, with the next day off not arriving until Monday, it was important for Manaea to give the team length, and he did.
“Meant everything [to get out of the seventh]. Where the game was at, there was no reason to use anyone else,” Manaea said. “I was going to be down regardless; might as well use me for the rest of the game….This is a family, this is a team. Everyone has work to do. I was happy I was able to help out the boys today.”
Manaea said he felt “free and easy” throwing his pitches on Thursday, and with confidence. He boasted about getting to throw some left-on-left changeups and his sinker was working well for him.
But the velocity continues to be a topic for Manaea. It’s well-documented that the velocity dipped from last season, and while it was a tick up on Thursday, his fastball is still averaging in the high 80s. Manaea said that the small tick in velocity is a result of changes that he’s made since spring.
“Just working on some things. It’s small incremental changes,” Manaea explained. “Today was the first day that felt synced up and connected. Felt great.”
Before the game, Mendoza said that if Manaea were to get into a game, he’d want his southpaw to throw 50-60 pitches to keep stretching him out. On Thursday, Manaea tossed 74 and he’ll be down for a few days.
The Mets skipper was asked about the possibility of Manaea returning to the rotation soon, but Mendoza maintains that the situation remains fluid.
“The fact there’s a lot of positive from his outing today is good for us,” Mendoza said. ” It was important for him to throw that many pitches, continue to have him stretch out in case we make the decision when we have to. There was a lot of positive from him today. Not only from a workload standpoint, but from the way he threw the ball.”
Manaea was asked his thoughts on the rotation situation and whether it’s his desire to be a starter again. The veteran, who has been a starter and a reliever in different parts of his career, gave a selfless response.
“All I’m worried about is pitching and helping out this team. Whether I’m in the starting rotation or not, that’s all that I care about,” he answered. ” We’ve got five extremely talented starters and my role right now is to help this team in the capacity that I’m doing, and I’m very excited to do that.”
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