3 Mets free agent signings who’ve rebounded nicely after their disastrous 2023 season

2) Sean Manaea

The year Sean Manaea had in 2023 wasn’t nearly as disastrous as Severino. However, with the San Francisco Giants demoting him to a relief role at one point, he still had a hill to climb.

Maybe the haircut did help. Jacob deGrom became a new pitcher when he removed his locks. Manaea seems to be following suit.

Last year with the Giants included 10 starts and 27 relief appearances. Manaea would go 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA in 117.2 innings. For the Mets, he’s doing much better. Now 3-1 with a 3.16 ERA after 10 starts and 51.1 innings, he’s yielding much better results even with an uptick in walks and fewer strikeouts per 9.

Again, avoiding the home run ball has helped Manaea tons. Just 0.5 per 9 versus the 1.2 for his career and 1.1 per 9 he had last season, keeping the ball in the yard is making a difference.

It has been a couple of rough years for Manaea. His ERA ballooned up to a career-worst 4.96 as a member of the San Diego Padres in 2022. Although he remained in the rotation for all but two appearances, he has had to resort to pillow contracts over the last two seasons. The Mets did include a player option for 2025. However, with the way he has pitched, Manaea should be able to get more than $13.5 million guaranteed.