Sean Manaea Stifles Phillies To Give Mets Series Lead

When Sean Manaea signed with the New York Mets this offseason, there was not one fan out there who would expect him to be the pitcher that would get the organization within one win from the NLCS. The 32-year-old right-hander has been one of the surprises of the season and has shown ace stuff at times. He did just that in Game 3 against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field.

On Tuesday, Manaea threw seven innings, allowed one run on three hits, walked two, and struck out six on 91 pitches (65 strikes) in his first postseason win in four career starts (five appearances).

Manaea was pitching with a heavy heart on Tuesday as he found out that his aunt passed away before the start. He said after the game that when he kissed the sky, it was for her. The Mets have had some memorable pitching performances on October 8 in the past (Bobby Jones one-hit shutout on 2000) and this will go down as one of them.

So, what was the key for Manaea in this outing against a strong lineup in the Phillies? Look no further than his offspeed stuff. According to Baseball Savant, the right-hander got 13+ swings on both his sweeper and changeup. He got seven misses on those pitches and 19 total for the game. They had a tough time hitting the sweeper with the average exit velocity on that pitch being 71.5 miles-per-hour.

As Tim Britton from The Athletic pointed out during the game, the key pitch for Manaea when he got into trouble in the sixth inning was his changeup. The Phillies put the first two runners on base via walks. With Bryce Harper at the plate, Manaea was able to strike him out on three pitches (all offspeed) and used his changeup to get that started.

Even after that emotional inning, which ended on a Nick Castellanos double play, Manaea got a 1-2-3 seventh and even started the eighth inning. Carlos Mendoza said after the game that the key for Manaea was being able to trust his stuff, and he was able to get ahead consistently with 19 first-pitch strikes to the 26 batters he faced.

“When he [Manaea] needed to make pitches, he did an unbelievable job, and like I said, he was on the attack. It was a different look today, even though we seen it the whole year, but his mound presence, his demeanor, like there was something different about him today that I’m just proud of him.”

While Manaea’s inherited run came around to score, our own Mike Mayer made note of all the great pitching performances the Mets had on this day in baseball history and the left-hander added his name to that list.

Mets playoff pitching performances on October 8th:

2024 Sean Manaea 7 IP, 1 ER, 6 K
2022 Jacob deGrom 6 IP, 2 ER, 8 K
2000 Bobby Jones 9 IP, 0 ER, 5 K
1999 Rick Reed 6 IP, 2 ER
1988 Ron Darling 6 IP, 2 ER, 5 K
1986 Doc Gooden 7 IP, 1 ER, 5 K
1973 Jerry Koosman 9 IP, 2 ER, 9 K

— Mike Mayer (@mikemayer22) October 9, 2024

The fact that Manaea was able to give the Mets 7+ innings allows them to have a nearly full rested bullpen with a chance to knock out one of their NL East rivals. While Mendoza doesn’t have to manage this game like a must-win, he now has options depending on how the game goes, knowing he is guaranteed a winner-take-all in Philly on Friday at the worst.

With Manaea having an opt-out at the end of the postseason, he continues to earn himself more money with every passing start. He was able to reach a new career-high in innings pitched in a season (181 2/3) and now he is pitching like an ace and out-dueling one of the better postseason pitchers in the last few years in Aaron Nola.

Ryne Stanek, who got the last four outs on Tuesday, was happy Manaea worked out of a jam and pitched into the eighth inning. “That was big boy shit right there,” Stanek said.

The Mets can’t celebrate yet, but David Stearns can give himself a pat on the back for taking a chance on Manaea in the winter. That chance is definitely paying dividends on the Mets’ magical run in October.

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