Manaea, Pitching Like An Ace, Ends Mets Skid

The Mets landed in St. Louis on Monday in a recent slide.

They had dropped a series and two straight games to the fourth-place American League West Angels and had been in an offensive funk.

The club needed something from either side of the ball. And while they wound up with stellar performances at the plate, the spotlight was on starter Sean Manaea.

The lefty went seven scoreless innings for a consecutive outing, striking out 10 Cardinals and bridging the ball to Ryne Stanek and Edwin Díaz to secure the shutout.

The start was absolutely brilliant. It was the second straight start where Manaea reached double-digit punch outs and went seven innings, joining Sid Fernandez and Jerry Koosman as the only left-handed pitchers with back-to-back double-digit strikeout games. The start lowered his ERA to 3.50 on the season and gave him a Mets-leading eighth win.

Manaea has quietly dominated the majors for over a month. In July, he pitched to a 2.70 ERA with 36 strikeouts in 36 2/3 innings. That stretch includes a start where he allowed five earned runs to the Marlins.

Add on a scoreless outing in his first start in August, and Manaea has a 2.29 ERA and 9.6 SO/9 in his last 10 starts. The stretch has been nothing short of amazing, and begs a serious question: Is Sean Manaea the ace of the 2024 Mets?

It seems unserious in a sense. Manaea has been a plus for this rotation the entire year, but struggles with command and depth had halted any serious consideration. The attention has been on Luis Severino with Kodai Senga out for all but one start. But that’s no longer the case.

Before July, Manaea had walked 34 batters in 76 1/3 innings. Base runners were an issue and stifled his starts. But since July, he’s only allowed 12 walks in 36 2/3— including a four-walk game against the Yankees.

Sean Manaea, Nasty 79mph Back Door Sweeper. ????

10th K pic.twitter.com/RYWkuKH0WI

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) August 5, 2024

The depth problem has also diminished. Manaea went seven innings in three July starts and six innings in another. The one outlier was again the start against the Yankees, where he went 4 2/3.

The makings of an ace are there. And in this two-game stretch, Manaea has been in company of Mets aces of the past. Manaea joined Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden as the only Mets pitchers to have consecutive games of at least seven shutout innings and 10 strikeouts.

Manaea’s recent success has been a revelation for the Mets. They went conservative at the trade deadline with Paul Blackburn, forgoing the sexier names in Zach Eflin and Trevor Rogers. But with the way Manaea is pitching, he could get a call for Game One in the playoffs if the Mets make it.

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