The Mets have activated left-hander Sean Manaea from the 60-day injured list for his season debut. Right-hander Austin Warren was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move, and the Mets already had a vacant 40-man spot for Manaea to take over.
Manaea, 33, has been sidelined all season by an oblique strain and a loose body in his left elbow. He’s now back and ready to resume pitching for a Mets club that’s in a tight battle with the Phillies over control for the NL East, though as noted by MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo he’s slated to pitch in relief of Clay Holmes in his return to the mound today before shifting into a rotation role in the future. The lefty’s rehab starts this season have left something to be desired, as he’s pitched to a 6.27 ERA in 18 2/3 innings of work. Even so, his return should be a major boost for the Mets rotation given that he was their major expenditure on the starting pitching market this past offseason.
That three-year, $75MM guarantee from the Mets is more than justified by his performance last year. The veteran lefty delivered a sterling performance in his first season with New York, where he pitched to a 3.47 ERA in 181 2/3 innings of work while making 32 starts and striking out 24.9% of his opponents. Manaea’s return means that the Mets’ on-paper starting rotation entering the 2025 campaign will be fully healthy for the first time when they return from the All-Star break, as Kodai Senga and Frankie Montas have both recently returned from their IL stints of their own that kept them sidelined for much of the first half.
That trio joins Clay Holmes and David Peterson to round out the Mets’ rotation, and now that the group is fully healthy the club’s need for additional starting pitching help is greatly reduced. Even so, the losses of Griffin Canning, Paul Blackburn, and Tylor Megill to the injured list mean that the Mets are likely to be in the market for some sort of starting pitching help, whether it’s a front-of-the-rotation arm who allows them to utilize a six-man rotation or a depth starter who can swing between the bullpen and rotation as needed. There figures to be plenty of demand for starting pitching, however, and with other clubs like the Cubs, Astros, and Blue Jays likely to be very aggressive on that front it could behoove the Mets to look more towards other areas of the roster as they look for upgrades this trade season, so long as they’re confident in the health of their current group of starters.
As for Warren, the 29-year-old righty has a 1.69 ERA in four appearances for the Mets this season. He’s pitched for the Angels and Giants as well across his five seasons in the majors, and has totaled a 3.00 ERA in 54 innings of work since making his debut back in 2021. He’ll head back to the minor leagues, where he has a career 3.98 ERA and a 26.1% strikeout rate in five seasons of work at Triple-A, and wait for his next opportunity.