Mets’ Sean Manaea solid again in first six-inning outing since 2024 NLDS
· Yahoo Sports
Is Sean Manaea…back?
The left-hander certainly appeared to be again as he made his first official start of the season in Saturday afternoon’s middle-game of a huge weekend set with the Braves.
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While he ended up taking home the loss, Manaea was able to keep the high-powered NL East leaders in check, completing six innings of work for the first time since the 2024 playoffs.
The lone damage against him came off the bat of righty-hitting outfielder Eli White.
White struck against Manaea for an RBI double to open the scoring in the top of the second, then lifted his third homer of the season to increase the advantage just two innings later.
Other than that, the 34-year-old southpaw was in complete control the rest of the way, allowing just those two runs on four hits while striking out six and issuing no free passes.
Most importantly, his velocity was up a few ticks from his season-average, again.
“That was huge,” Carlos Mendoza said. “That’s the guy we’re going to need -- for him to go out there and give us a chance today, he was very solid today against a pretty good lineup over there.
“He used all of his pitches, competed in the strike zone, got swing-and-misses, and had a good pitch mix -- that’s the guy we saw a lot in 2024 -- big picture, that’s the guy we need moving forward.”
After a brutal start to the season that saw him relegated to an inning-eating low-leverage role out of the bullpen, Manaea has now pitched to a solid 3.33 ERA over his last eight appearances.
He’s give up just three homers and has struck out (28) four times as many batters as he’s walked (7) over that span, fighting his way back into a regular spot in the Mets' starting rotation.
“I feel good,” Manaea said. “I'm excited with where I’m at and just want to keep this train rolling.”
“He continues to earn the opportunity,” Mendoza added. “To go out there and have that type of outing today, he just puts himself in a way better position, and he’s going to only make us better moving forward."