Sean Manaea has not pitched at this high a level in quite some time.
The New York Mets’ veteran southpaw, in his first year with the club, posted yet another gem on Monday evening in St. Louis to lay the foundation of a 6-0 victory, going seven scoreless innings while allowing six hits with 10 strikeouts and zero walks.
It was his second consecutive start of seven shutout innings, doing so while allowing just two hits with a season-high 11 strikeouts and one walk in a 2-0 victory on July 30 against the Minnesota Twins.
This is just the second time in his nine-year career that he struck out 21 or more batters over a two-start span — he struck out 22 in late July of 2021 with the Oakland Athletics — and the first time in three years that he has put together two straight starts of seven innings or more. This is also the second time in his career that he has had a two-start span of 14-plus innings with one or fewer free passes (2016).
A brilliant pair of starts has been the exclamation point of an otherwise solid stretch since June 26. Over those eight starts (48.2 IP), he is 4-1 with a 2.03 ERA and 49 strikeouts. It has lowered his season ERA from 4.16 to 3.30 to suggest further that David Stearns’ gamble on the 32-year-old is paying off.
Last season with the San Francisco Giants, Manea was demoted to the bullpen before a newly instituted sweeper pitch got him back on track down the stretch. Despite a 4.73 ERA from 2022-2023, Stearns signed Manaea to a one-year, $14.5 million deal with a $13.5 million player option for 2025.
While that sweeper has been Manaea’s main putaway pitch (27%), it is a rejuvenated four-seam fastball used to attack hitters which helps the 32-year-old get ahead in counts. Last year, opponents were batting .235 against that fastball. This year, they are batting .180, per Baseball Savant.
“I think he found a rhythm here where every pitch is working for him,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I think just the fact that he’s commanding the baseball. And he’s executing pitches when he needs to… it’s pretty impressive.”
With it, he is on pace to post a career-best ERA while posting his second-most innings pitched (173) and strikeouts (172) — production that could not come at a better time considering the Mets’ starting rotation is still shaky even after acquiring Paul Blackburn at the trade deadline to cushion the blow of losing Kodai Senga for the year.
