New York Mets starting pitcher Sean Manaea hit another setback in his efforts to join the team’s starting rotation for the 2025 season.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza announced on Tuesday that the veteran left-hander will be shut down for two weeks after receiving a platelet-rich plasma injection for a right oblique strain to accelerate healing. The team hoped that Manaea would join the starting rotation after the middle of April. However, this development has pushed his timetable back to at least late May.
“He experienced some discomfort a couple of days ago while he was starting to ramp up,” Mendoza told reporters. “We took an MRI again and it showed inflammation, so he got a PRP injection [on Monday].
Manaea, 33, was previously shut down in late February due to the oblique strain. He resumed throwing on March 10 and followed a typical spring training routine of six weeks to build up for the regular season. But that timetable has likely been reset with Manaea being shut down again.
“He’s gonna go two weeks of no throwing, and then we’ve got to start building him back up again,” Mendoza added. “We have to revisit and see where we’re at after that.”
Manaea re-signed with the Mets during the offseason, agreeing to a three-year, $75 million contract after an excellent debut season in Queens. He had the best performance of his career, compiling a 3.47 ERA, 184 strikeouts in 181 2/3 innings and 12-6 record while tying a career-high with 32 starts. That had him projected to be among the Mets’ top starting pitchers going into 2025.
But for now, Manaea is sidelined along with Frankie Montas Jr., who signed a two-year, $34 million free agent deal. Montas, 32, was also shut down during the spring with a high-grade right lat strain expected to sideline him for six to eight weeks. Barring any setbacks, that timetable would have him ready in mid-April.
After pitching with the Athletics in the American League for his first six MLB seasons, registering a 3.86 ERA and rate of 7.9 strikeouts per nine innings in 129 appearances (128 starts), Manaea has played his past three seasons in the National League, one each with the San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants and Mets.
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