Mets' Sean Manaea 'really proud' of dominant outing against Pirates, increase in velocity
· Yahoo Sports
It hasn’t always come easy this season for Sean Manaea, but the Mets starter turned in a masterful performance on Sunday to help New York beat the Pittsburgh Pirates and clinch another series win.
Staked to a big lead early on, the left-hander breezed through seven innings and allowed a run on three hits while striking out a season-high 11 on just 91 pitches (69 strikes) in what was easily his best start of the year.
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“It was good,” Manaea said about his outing. “I’m just really proud of the amount of strikes I threw, getting ahead of guys. The offense did an amazing job of [going up] early, scoring runs and it was just my job to keep them at bay and I felt like I did a really good job of that today.”
Manaea was in control all day and had everything working for him in Pittsburgh while continuing to see an uptick in his velocity which has been climbing over his last few starts after beginning the season with a fastball in the high-80s.
While the 34-year-old was never concerned with the dip in his velocity which began in spring training but wasn’t getting any better during the season, even as a reliever, it’s nice to see Manaea have the same kind of life on his fastball that the Mets saw out of him in 2024.
“Slow kind of work that we’ve been putting in over the last few months,” Manaea said about what has helped him regain his velocity. “That and just feeling good mechanically and just my body. I was never worried about the velo. As long as I stayed healthy I knew it would come back. Just everyday putting in work and now we’re seeing that velo increase.”
Manaea’s increase in velocity corresponds with his best stretch of the season on the mound. And while he was at his best on Sunday, the left-hander has been pitching extremely well since New York moved him from the bullpen to the rotation.
In 11 starts, Manaea owns a 3.50 ERA and has allowed more than two earned runs in a start just three times. As a reliever, generally used in long relief, the lefty pitched to a 5.02 ERA across 14 appearances.
In fact, Manaea has been especially good over his last four outings where he’s given up six earned runs in 25 innings while completing at least six innings each time. He’s also managed to lower his ERA to 4.13 after it nearly reached 7.00 in early May.
“I take pride in taking the ball and trying to go deep into games and giving the team a chance to win and I feel like I’ve at least been able to do that the last few starts,” he said. “We got an incredible team here so just trying to help the boys win.”
With Manaea, who missed half of the 2025 season with a right oblique strain and struggled when he returned, seemingly back at full strength it gives the Mets another trusted arm in a starting rotation that is beginning to take shape for next season.
“You get excited,” said interim manager Andy Green about Manaea’s resurgence. “Any time you see the best version of a player it’s fun to watch and to know how much work he put in to get to where he is right now, it’s even more fun. He’s a great teammate, works incredibly hard and it’s fun to see him pitch like that.”
And although New York is still 15 games under .500 and well out of the playoff picture, with a pitching staff with that kind of potential, anything can happen.
At the very least, the Mets, 5-1 since the MLB Trade Deadline, can finish the season strong.
“We’re pretty gritty and we’re good. I think we just gotta believe that,” Manaea said.