The back end of the New York Mets is crowded and competitive, and Sean Manaea's velocity issues could be a problem.
The New York Mets have multiple starters competing for a role in the back end of their starting rotation, and Sean Manaea is one of them. Manaea’s season was a disaster last year due to injury and ineffectiveness, so he’s hoping to rebound.
But his lack of velocity is becoming an issue, and a spring-training talking point, according to Anthony DiComo of MLB.com. His average velocity in yesterday’s outing against the St. Louis Cardinals in Jupiter was 88.4, which is a tough place for any major league pitcher to live.
Manaea insists he’s healthy, but it’s fair to wonder and ask the requisite questions. He did touch 91 against the Cardinals, but Manaea’s health issues have made the questions sharper and more relevant.
Mets manager Carlos Mendoza is aware of the questions, and he knows he has to protect his guy.
“I know it’s going to be a topic here,” Mendoza said. “I’m not concerned as long as he keeps telling us that he’s healthy. And that’s what he keeps telling us: ‘I feel great.’ Look, it might take a while for the velo to come back, and that’s why he’s tinkering with the cutter. The changeup is good, the sweeper. He went through a lot last year. And now it’s finding the mechanics, the arm slot. There’s a lot going on.”
The health aspects of this situation are worth reviewing. Last year Manaea had a right oblique issue come up in camp, and during his rehab the starter discovered a loose body in his left elbow that kept him out until mid-July. When he returned Manaea averaged 91.7 mph, and his ERA was 5.64 over twelve starts and two relief appearances as he went 2-4, according to DiComo.
Manaea did manage to finish the season healthy, so he elected not to have surgery. Mendoza instead pointed to the oblique issues possibly causing mechanical issues, and Manaea is working on finding a higher arm slot, which could also be contributing to the loss of speed.
“I think it’s just getting more reps,” Manaea said. “Other than that, I don’t have any explanation.”
All of this might be fine earlier in spring training, but there’s not a lot of time to implement a fix. In less than two weeks the Mets break camp, so Manaea might be living on borrowed time right now when it comes to making the rotation.
What makes this especially onerous is Manaea’s contract. He’s going into the second year of a three-year, $75 million deal, and in his first year he pitched like an ace. (Not coincidentally, his velocity averaged above 93 mph that year.) But that contract is virtually untradeable given that Manaea is 34 and coming off a bad year, so there’s a level of urgency here, although you wouldn’t know it from Mendoza’s comments.
“It’s going to come down to him feeling good,” Mendoza said about his starter’s timeline. “It might take a few weeks. It might take a month. Who knows?”