It’s been a long road back for Mets starter Sean Manaea.
Manaea was supposed to headline this retooled rotation following a breakout 2024 campaign, but he was quickly forced to the injured list after suffering an oblique strain during his ramp up in spring training.
The initial expectation was that he’d be able to return to the club in mid-to-late April, but that timeline continued to be pushed further and further back as he endured some minor setbacks along the way.
The first one came in mid-March when he first resumed throwing, and then he was recently forced to receive a cortisone injection after a loose body was discovered in his left elbow following a rehab start.
Manaea was able to work his way through his final two rehab outings without experiencing any further discomfort, though, and now he’s officially set to make his season debut this weekend in Kansas City.
He’ll piggyback Clay Holmes during Sunday afternoon’s first-half finale.
“Talking to both they said whatever you guys want to do,” Carlos Mendoza said. “We’re just trying to keep things simple for Clay and then we’ll give Sean the proper time to make sure he's ready before we put him in.”
Manaea allowed 15 runs over his six rehab appearances, but he did show some positives.
Easily his most encouraging showing came prior to his latest setback, when he gave up just one of those runs on a pair of hits while striking out seven over 5.1 stellar innings of work while with Triple-A Syracuse.
He was a little rusty his next two times out, but still feels ready to return to a Mets rotation that desperately needs a spark heading into the second-half.
“It feels good,” Manaea said. “It sucks to be on the IL, you want to be out there helping this team win and it’s frustrating when you can’t do that — everyone has been doing an incredible job, so it feels good to be back.”
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