NEW YORK ¨C Sean Manaea was a free agent after the 2024 season, but by the sound of his voice on Monday, he didn¡¯t want to play for anyone but the Mets, who signed him to a three-year, $75 million deal last month.
There were two important reasons for his return to the Big Apple: His wife, Talat, loved the family atmosphere the Mets created off the field. And most importantly, Manaea had the best season of his career last year, setting a career high in innings pitched (181 2/3) with a career-best 3.47 ERA.
Manaea took his pitching to another level during the final four months of the season, including the playoffs. In 21 starts from June 8 to the end of the regular season, the 32-year-old southpaw had a 3.40 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 127 strikeouts over 124 2/3 innings. He made four more starts in October, including a seven-inning gem against the Phillies in Game 3 of the National League Division Series.
¡°Just based off of last year with the coaching staff that we had going on, I thought [the Mets] were a perfect fit,¡± Manaea said during a Zoom call with the local media. ¡°Just organizationally, I thought they did a lot of great things. I learned a lot from Hef [pitching coach Jeremy Hefner] and the rest of the staff. Just overall, I was happy with my time there and [the Mets] reached out and said they wanted to reunite. That was a top priority. After talking with Talat, we made the right decision and are just super happy to be back.¡±
Manaea credited some of his success on the mound to a Chris Sale start he witnessed against the Mets on July 25 at Citi Field. After watching Sale pitch 7 1/3 innings and strike out nine batters, Manaea lowered his arm slot to create a tougher angle for hitters. He supplemented that with a simplified pitch arsenal, relying more on sinkers and sweepers to help him transform into the ace of the Mets¡¯ staff.
Manaea is not done as far as improving his arsenal. He would like to maintain more consistency with his changeup. Opposing hitters batted .250 against the pitch last year ¨C 26 points higher than in 2023. He is currently working at Driveline Baseball and Diesel Optimization in Tampa to improve his skills on the mound.
¡°The changeup is the biggest thing. I know it can be great at times. ¡ The more I can have it be great, the better off I will be,¡± he said. ¡°At the end of the day, experimenting is cool. That¡¯s what the offseason is for. ¡ At this stage we are in a good spot, I¡¯m excited to try to go against some hitters soon. Other than that, I try to keep things simple and build off of last year.¡±
Manaea has played for four big league teams ¨C the Athletics, Padres, Giants and Mets ¨C in the past four seasons, but he is happy to lay down some roots for a while in New York.
¡°It¡¯s fun being on an adventure of seeing new cities [with] different organizations and meeting new friends. But at a certain point, it¡¯s kind of nice to settle down, have some roots and things like that,¡± Manaea said. ¡°Me and my wife are excited for that, just knowing where we are going to be here for the next three years, which is incredible. I¡¯m grateful for that. It¡¯s a great feeling. We actually can plan some things a little bit better and not just wander around all the time.¡±