How Mets’ Sean Manaea fared in first High-A rehab start

Mets left-hander Sean Manaea made a rehab start Friday—his first since suffering an oblique strain in spring training.

Feb 15, 2025; Port St. Lucie, FL, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Sean Manaea (59) looks on during a spring training workout at Clover Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images | Sam Navarro-Imagn Images

Sean Manaea’s first rehab start with High-A Brooklyn was far from smooth sailing, but it was an important step forward as he works toward a return to the New York Mets.

Friday’s outing in Wilmington marked Manaea’s first game action since suffering a right oblique strain early in spring training, which ultimately landed him on the 60-day injured list. After striking out the leadoff batter on four pitches, he gave up back-to-back singles and plunked the cleanup hitter to load the bases.

With two outs, Wilmington's T.J. White singled on a grounder to shortstop Marco Vargas, clearing the bases after a throwing error allowed the runner from first to score. The following batter drove in White for the fourth run of the inning before Manaea ended the 26-pitch frame with a strikeout.

The left-hander finished the night with four runs allowed (three earned) on four hits over 1.2 innings, recording two strikeouts and no walks. Mets manager Carlos Mendoza had said the plan was for Manaea to get two “ups” and throw around 35 pitches; he was ultimately pulled after 36.

Sean Manaea's rehab outing for Brooklyn is complete.

Final line: 1.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R (3 ER), 0 BB, 2 K, 36 pitches (26 strikes)

He also hit a batter and 2 fielding errors were made behind him pic.twitter.com/mkpYKavdFp

— SNY Mets (@SNY_Mets) June 6, 2025

Manaea, 33, reinvented himself in Queens after signing a “prove-it” deal in January 2024, increasing his sinker/sweeper usage and revamping his arm angle. The veteran southpaw emerged as the team’s ace, posting a 12–6 record and 3.47 ERA over a career-high 181.2 innings, with a 24.9% strikeout rate and 8.5% walk rate.

Sean Manaea revamped his delivery to throw from a lower arm angle.

It seems to be working 👀 pic.twitter.com/TR49LsfJYu

— MLB (@MLB) October 14, 2024

Though Manaea ran out of gas in the Mets’ NLCS Game 6 loss, he allowed just five runs over 17 innings in his first three postseason starts (2.65 ERA). A month after exercising his opt-out clause, the Mets re-signed him to a partially deferred three-year, $75 million contract—making him the highest-paid starter on the team.

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Despite opening the season without Manaea and offseason addition Frankie Montas, the Mets’ rotation has been among the best in baseball. As of Saturday morning, their starters rank first in MLB with a 2.86 ERA.

Manaea will need several more rehab starts to build up to 90-plus pitches before the Mets consider activating him. In the meantime, they have plenty of depth to rely on with Kodai Senga, Clay Holmes, David Peterson, Griffin Canning, Tylor Megill, and Paul Blackburn. Montas could also return soon.