Back in February, New York Mets starter Sean Manaea strained his oblique, and it’s haunted him for months. A setback in early April pushed his return even deeper into uncertainty.
For a rotation already stretched thin by the Frankie Montas injury in the spring, Manaea’s absence left a gaping hole in the Mets staff that they filled with some brilliant player development work.
Still, they were bound to need the depth eventually, and just a few days ago, Kodai Senga and Tylor Megill went down with injuries.
Flirting with disaster
Manaea finally began a rehab stint in High-A this month, but the early results were nothing short of a disaster.
Over his first three outings, Manaea allowed a staggering 9.45 ERA across just 6.2 innings, rarely making it through a clean frame.
It looked like Manaea had lost his feel, his rhythm, and possibly his place in the Mets’ plans for the summer.
Then came Friday night—a breakthrough wrapped in dominance.
Pitching for Triple-A Syracuse, Sean Manaea finally looked like the guy the Mets hoped they signed this offseason.
Sean Manaea was dominant in his rehab outing with Triple-A Syracuse today 🔥
His final line: 5.1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K (62 pitches/45 strikes)
He retired the final 15 batters he faced 💪 pic.twitter.com/onH3okPYzM
— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) June 20, 2025
He fired 5.1 innings of two-hit ball, allowing just one earned run while striking out seven and walking none.
More importantly, he retired the final 15 batters he faced, needing just 62 pitches—45 of them strikes—to carve through the lineup.
It wasn’t just good—it was clinical. It was Manaea showing he remembered how to dictate an at-bat from the first pitch.
Like a pianist who’d finally found the right tempo, Manaea worked with precision, command, and quiet confidence.
Mets needed Manaea to show something, and he did
The performance couldn’t have come at a better time. The Mets’ rotation has been barely held together by duct tape and crossed fingers.
Frankie Montas is expected to return first, set to start Tuesday against the Braves despite not showing much dominance in the minors.
Unlike Montas, Manaea hadn’t been fully stretched out, so his timeline was more uncertain—until Friday’s gem changed everything.
According to New York Post reporter Mike Puma, the Mets are eyeing Manaea for the Brewers series in early July.
That gives them time to make sure his mechanics hold up and his oblique doesn’t flare again under the stress of MLB hitters.
A true workhorse
And if Manaea is truly back, even at 90 percent, he can still offer something the Mets desperately need: stability.
Last season, Sean Manaea posted a 3.47 ERA and racked up 184 strikeouts—a reminder of just how high his ceiling can be.
He may not be an ace, but in a rotation scrambling for answers, Manaea can be a reliable No. 3.
His return would also allow the Mets to manage starters with a heavy workload to this point more strategically, rather than out of sheer necessity.
When the Mets signed Manaea, they weren’t expecting him to be a savior. But right now, they’d settle for him just being solid.
Friday was the first real sign that Manaea is turning the corner—and the Mets are clinging to that like a life preserver.
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