Aug 9, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Sean Manaea (59) delivers a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images
Sean Manaea is showing the Mets that he can, in fact, be an important part of their starting rotation next season, which seemed like a pipe dream just a few months ago.
The 34-year-old southpaw, who spent roughly half the season in the bullpen with an ERA over 6.00 and a fastball muddying in the high-80s, put forth his third successive strong start in Sunday’s series finale against the Pittsburgh Pirates, allowing just one run on three hits with a season-high 11 strikeouts in seven innings.
The Mets won their fifth game in their last six, 11-1.
“I’m just really proud of the amount of strikes I threw, getting ahead of guys,” Manaea said. “The offense did an amazing job 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.”
Since moving back to the starting rotation on June 11 (13 starts), Manaea has a 3.50 ERA with 61 strikeouts compared to just 18 walks. He has gone at least six innings in each of his last four starts, going 2-0 with a 2.16 ERA and 25 punchouts.
It has lowered his season ERA to 4.13, more than two runs fewer than his season-worst on May 6, when a run allowed in a third of an inning raised his season mark to 6.85.
“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,” Manaea said. “We got an incredible team here, so just trying to help the boys win.”
While Manaea was never worried about his lack of velocity throughout the first three months of the season, this successful stretch coincides with the return of a fastball that is now touching 95 mph. Of the 53 four-seamers he threw on Sunday, only three were hit hard in the air.
“Slow kind of work that we’ve been putting in over the last few months,” Manaea said when explaining how he got his velocity back. “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 every day putting in work, and now we’re seeing that velo increase.”
After parting ways with David Peterson, Freddy Peralta, and Clay Holmes, Manaea’s resurgence certainly provides some relief to the looming question of how the Mets will set up their rotation in 2027. Nolan McLean will be the ace, and fellow youngsters Christian Scott and Zac Thornton have shown that their stuff plays well in the big leagues. Then, there is Kodai Senga, who is being used as a high-leverage reliever for the rest of this season after posting an ERA over 8.00 as a starter. The inconsistent Tylor Megill will also be back in the fold after undergoing Tommy John surgery last September.
“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,” interim manager Andy Green said of Manaea. “He’s a great teammate, works incredibly hard, and it’s fun to see him pitch like that.”
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