Sean Manaea is giving the NY Mets reasons for a wild role change before Opening Day

After his first spring training start, Sean Manaea said he wasn’t bothered by the lack of velocity on his fastball. He got the job done despite the lack of speed. Three innings and one hit allowed, a home run, at least provided New York Mets fans with some confidence he could job down.

This is no longer the case in start number two of the spring. He lasted 2.2 innings, allowed 6 hits, and surrendered 3 earned runs. As alarming, his fastball barely ticked up in speed.

If there was ever a Mets player to convince the average fan to learn more about pitch selection and velocity, it’s Manaea. He threw only 3 different pitches last year, one effectively, after a 2024 campaign which featured 6 different ones. There hasn’t been any specific explanation as to why he didn’t throw a single sinker, cutter, or slider last year. The ineffectiveness of his fastball this spring with more sauerkraut than mustard on it is a sure sign of things going terribly wrong.

Sean Manaea is pitching his way out of the rotation fast

Falling velocity doesn’t spoil a pitcher’s career. It’s the trend of seeing it slow down that’s troublesome. His fastball was his best pitch in 2024 and with it traveling at a Sunday drive’s pace, it’s going to become more hittable.

Failing to even average 90mph is worrisome. Yeah, it’s spraining. But check the calendar. The season starts in two weeks. An 89mph fastball would have Manaea ranking in a tie for 322nd last year alongside Clayton Kershaw. Only 5 qualified pitchers threw a 4-seamer consistently enough that was slower.

With a six-man rotation in place at the moment, there may be a solution. Tobias Myers is a waste in the bullpen as a longman if there’s a need in the rotation. Swap the two. Allow Manaea to piggyback behind other starters (Kodai Senga) and give Myers the ball for starts instead.

The Mets can, of course, always go with a five man rotation and keep both Manaea and Myers in the bullpen. Manaea has been relegated to a relief role in the past. It wouldn’t be new. The big difference now is he’s getting paid $25 million a year. He was supposed to be a top of the rotation solution, not a payroll and roster burden.