Mets' Sean Manaea reveals timeline of oblique injury

New York Mets pitcher Sean Manaea spoke about when his oblique injury began.

Oct 14, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; New York Mets pitcher Sean Manaea (59) reacts in the sixth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers during game two of the NLCS for the 2024 MLB Playoffs at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images | Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images

The New York Mets have not had a good offseason when it comes to the health of their players, specifically regarding their starting pitching staff.

This started on February 17, when news broke that Frankie Montas (who the Mets signed to a two-year, $34 million contract at the beginning of December) suffered a high-grade lat strain and will be sidelined for 6-8 weeks.

Over the weekend, new signee Nick Madrigal dislocated and broke his shoulder while fielding a ground ball during a spring training game. While it's unclear exactly how much time he will miss, New York manager Carlos Mendoza conveyed on February 24 that it would be "a long time".

Nick Madrigal's MRI showed a fracture in his left shoulder. He'll go for a CT scan for more info, but he'll be out "for a long time," per Carlos Mendoza.

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) February 24, 2025

This unfortunate streak continued on Monday when southpaw hurler Sean Manaea revealed that he had strained his right oblique. As a result, Manaea is expected to be shut down for weeks and still be sidelined for Opening Day.

When speaking with the media on February 24, Manaea got honest about his attempts to pitch through this oblique injury.

Read more: Is this former Mets hurler a potential 2025 bust candidate?

"[I noticed the injury] a couple of weeks ago, pretty much at the very beginning of camp," Manaea said, per an X post from SNY. "It kind of, nothing really got any better, didn't really get worse, it just kind of plateaued. The worst part is it just never got any better.

"I've been throwing, been pitching, and recovery hasn't really been the greatest in between, so that was kind of why I said something," he continued.

Sean Manaea talks about the process of trying to pitch through his right oblique strain:

"Nothing really got any better, didn't really get worse, it kind of plateaued. The worst part is it just never got any better." pic.twitter.com/6OGWK0mydE

— SNY (@SNYtv) February 24, 2025

It will be interesting to see what the Mets to do address these two vacancies in their starting rotation. What's for sure is that they can ill-afford to see other starters go down from now until opening day.