CINCINNATI — Over Sean Manaea’s last six outings, dating back to last season, he has pitched like an elite starter.
The Mets left-hander started this season with one earned run in 11 innings.
He finished last season with the Giants allowing six earned runs in four starts and 24 innings.
Over the years, Manaea has posted a 1.80 ERA in his last six games.
Have the Mets found a real bargain in a pitcher who is owed $14.5 million this season and has a $13.5 million player option next year?
That’s at least a possibility after two strong starts, with Manaea allowing one run in five innings in Sunday’s 3-1 win over the Reds at Great American Ball Park.
“All the work I’ve done, everything – just feeling good and trying to be consistent. At the end of the day, that’s all I can ask for,” Manaea said after striking out six and allowing three hits and two walks. “Everything is fine right now, so keep it up.”
The work was needed after Manaea fell out of the Giants’ rotation early last season.
By mid-May, he held a 7.96 ERA and was demoted to reliever/swingman, where he began to find himself.
Manaea saw a jump in speed and added a sweeper, working his way into the rotation and closing out the year strong, which caught the attention of the Mets.
Manaea’s sweeper took 10 hacks off the Reds’ batters and five were whiffs.
His four-seam fastball averaged 93.3 mph, replacing a sinker that averaged 91.2 mph in 2022.
His stuff caused a lot of swing-and-misses, although he struggled to fend off Luke Maile over a 13-pitch third inning at-bat that ended with a strikeout.
He threw 29 pitches in the inning, and combined with a 27-pitch fourth, it cost him a chance to advance to the final innings.
Two 0-2 pitches that knocked down Jonathan India and later Elly De La Cruz were of no use.
“I thought he was really good the first time,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “I thought he had the chops to go deep in the game today, but … (the Reds) kind of upped his pitch count.”
The Reds’ run came in the fourth, when a walk, a single and a hit by pitch from De La Cruz loaded the bases with no outs.
But the Reds only scored on a Santiago Espinal sacrifice fly, as Manaea induced a Bubba Thompson double play well converted by Brett Baty.
“It was huge,” Manaea said. “It was what we needed.”
Brooks Raley, Adam Ottavino and Edwin Diaz pitched scoreless innings while working a third game in four days.
Diaz recorded his second save of the series and the season, important for the Mets and for a friendly bet he made with Reds closer Alexis Diaz.
The sibling with the fewest face-to-face stops will have to buy the entire family dinner.
Edwin two, Alexis zero.
Highly touted outfield prospect Drew Gilbert was placed on the seven-day injured list with a mild hamstring strain after leaving early in Saturday’s game with Triple-A Syracuse.
Max Kranick (hamstring strain) has started a rehab assignment in St. Lucia.
The right-handed starter recorded two outs on 22 pitches, allowing two hits and a walk and striking out one.
New York Post
