Manaea Perfect, But Velocity Still Down

A dozen Marlins up, a dozen down. Sean Manaea hurled four perfect innings Tuesday, struck out four, but still faced questions from the media afterward about his velocity.

“It’s low, but at the end of the day I feel good,” he said after the Mets tied the Marlins 5-5 in front of 3,416 in Jupiter, Fla. “I’m not concerned about it whatsoever. I know when I get up to Citi Field and get some adrenaline going, I think it will shoot back up. But right now it is what it is. I’ve tried long tossing, pull downs, all this stuff, and I think I just need some adrenaline.”

Manaea’s four-seam fastball averaged 88.4 mph and topped out at 89.9 mph. It was his third spring outing and his velocity has been lower than it was last season each time out. His four-seamer averaged 91.7 mph last year when he battled injuries and pitched to a 5.64 ERA. It averaged 92.2 mph in 2024 when he pitched like an ace down the stretch. The Mets re-signed him that winter to a three-year, $75 million pact.

He threw 36 of 52 pitches for strikes. The breakdown: 20 fastballs, 17 sweepers, eight cutters, four sinkers and three change-ups. And while the velocity didn’t tick up, the results were a big improvement from his last start when he gave up three runs on six hits in 2 2/3 innings against the Cardinals.

“I felt really good,” Manaea said. “I felt that my pitches all worked, throwing for strikes, yeah we mixed really, really well. Just getting ahead of guys, attacking.”

Carlos Mendoza was asked if Manaea’s velocity will return.

“We don’t know,” the manager said. “I would say yes. Especially with what he went through last year, it might take some time. I thought even though he was still 89, 88, but the life was a lot better. And he got swing and misses with that pitch. So I think it’s in there, but it’s probably going to take some time.”

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