Sean Manaea will not be part of the New York Mets’ season-opening starting rotation, which the team announced on Saturday.
Manaea, 34, will begin the season in the bullpen while Freddy Peralta, David Peterson, Nolan McLean, Clay Holmes and Kodai Senga form manager Carlos Mendoza’s five-man starting rotation.
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Mendoza acknowledged that he had six candidates for the starting staff coming out of Grapefruit League play, but opted to go with a five-man rotation with a day off after the Mets’ season opener versus the Pittsburgh Pirates. However, that follows with a stretch of nine games in nine days. That might make a six-man rotation necessary.
“If everyone was healthy, we were going to have to make some tough decisions,” Mendoza told reporters on Saturday, “and one of them was going to be pitching in that type of role.”
The Mets skipper added that Manaea will likely pitch during that first turn through the rotation, piggybacking on one of the starts. But he didn’t say when that would be.
As could be expected, Manaea wasn’t pleased with the decision but says he’ll do whatever the team needs from him.
“I consider myself a starter,” Manaea said, via MLB.com. “To not be that is frustrating. But at the end of the day, I’m just going to let my pitching do the work in whatever capacity that is, and go from there.”
Growing concerns with Sean Manaea’s velocity
Manaea compiled a 3.72 ERA in 9 2/3 spring innings with nine strikeouts. He also allowed seven hits. There has been some concern that Manaea’s velocity has gone down since struggling through left elbow and oblique injuries last season. His fastball is 3 mph slower, averaging 88 mph, while his sweeper has lost 5 mph, according to The Athletic.
However, Mendoza insisted that Manaea’s velocity was not a factor in him not being in the season-opening rotation. Manaea told reporters that he believes he’ll throw harder once the regular season begins and the adrenaline develops from games that count in the standings.
Last season, Manaea finished with a 5.64 ERA in 12 starts (and 15 overall appearances). With 75 strikeouts in 60 2/3 innings, he registered the highest strikeout rate of his career with 11.1 Ks per nine innings.
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