2) Luis Severino
Luis Severino joined the Mets this offseason with similar expectations as Manaea. It was a low-risk, high-reward type of deal. Severino had been brilliant in the past with the New York Yankees. Injuries over the last few years had Severino falling out of favor with the Yankees and getting overlooked plenty in the offseason. Maybe it was familiarity with New York or Mets manager Carlos Mendoza. Maybe Jeremy Hefner truly is a magician. Maybe Severino just needed to stay healthy to get back to performing this well.
September has been a very productive month for Sevy who is 2-0 with a 2.81 ERA. Keeping up with Manaea with 25 strikeouts in 25.2 innings of work, his overall season hasn’t been quite as consistent which is why he still falls behind Manaea on the list of offseason priorities. Nonetheless, if the Mets were to bring both pitchers back, there won’t be too many complaints.
A strong finish for Severino is even more important than it was for Manaea because of the health concerns he came into this season with. Zero trips to the IL and no signs of slowing down should have him entering free agency with far more suitors than last winter.