Sean Manaea has pitched his way into the club's medium-term plans...
Plus, the Mets are finally returning home with a playoff spot in sight after sweeping the White Sox on the south side this weekend
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets completed a three game weekend sweep of the White Sox, defeating Chicago 2-0 at Guaranteed Rate Field on Sunday afternoon (box)
LHP Sean Manaea started for the Mets and was splendid yet again, firing seven scoreless frames while allowing only two hits and two walks. He struck out five Chicago hitters
It was Manaea’s third start of at least seven innings with no earned runs this season
Francisco Lindor led off the top of the 4th inning with his 29th home run of the season
Needing an insurance run in the 9th, Starling Marte delivered by crushing a double to the wall in center field that chased home recently promoted Pablo Reyes who had entered the game as a pinch-runner.
Backstop Luis Torrens impressively threw out his 12th attempted base-stealer of 2024
Edwin Diaz was lights out in the 9th, striking out the side to earn his 16th save
Playoff Race 🏁
On Sunday the Mets completed a sweep of the White Sox that they simply had to have, and got a little bit of help from the Phillies who beat the Braves in extra innings.
Meanwhile, the Diamondbacks and Padres both won to stay atop the NL Wild Card standings.
Heading into play on Labor Day the Mets are just a skinny game behind Atlanta for the final Wild Card position, and four behind both teams from the West.
There are 25 games remaining.
Per FanGraphs, the Mets have a 28.8% chance of making the postseason.
New York has the 14th hardest schedule in MLB the rest of the way.
Tiebreakers:
vs. ATL: 5-5
vs. ARI: 4-3 (finished)
vs. SD: 5-2 (finished)
vs. SF: 2-4 (finished)
vs. CHC: 4-3 (finished)
vs. STL 4-2 (finished)
Who’s Hot 🔥
LHP Sean Manaea has won three of his last four starts—allowing only nine earned runs across 27.2 innings (2.93 ERA) during that span
Francisco Lindor extended his on-base streak to 30 games with his home run on Sunday. He is hitting .320/.365/.570 with 41 hits, 9 doubles, a triple, 7 home runs and 17 RBI with 23 runs scored during that span. Lindor also has a 12 game hitting streak, during which he’s hitting .333/.370/.745 with 17 hits, 6 doubles, 5 home runs and 8 RBI with 11 runs scored during that span
Down on the Farm 🌾
Alex Ramirez (No. 26 Prospect, Double-A): 2-for-4, 2B
A.J. Ewing (No. 29 Prospect, High-A: 2-for-4, 2 RBI
Brandon Sproat (No.1 Prospect, Triple-A): 5.1 IP, 0 R, 0 ER, 2 H, 2 BB, 6 K
BOX SCORES
Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
Match-up: Mets (73-64) vs. Red Sox (70-67)
Where: Citi Field - Flushing, NY
Starters: RHP Luis Severino (9-6, 3.96 ERA) vs. RHP Bryan Bello (12-6, 4.66 ERA)
When: 7:10 PM EDT
Where to Watch: SNY
Sean Manaea has pitched his way into a future in Queens…✍️
Last winter, the Mets intentions regarding their starting rotation were abundantly obvious.
President of Baseball Operations David Stearns brought in a horde of veteran pitchers to try to round out the starting five while the club waited for some of their young prospects to potentially be ready to take over in 2025.
As we sit here in early September, I think it’s important to give Stearns an immense amount of credit for how well some of the names he brought in have performed.
Luis Severino looks to have revitalized his career in Queens, and has emerged as one of the most reliable pitchers in the National League. It’s scary to think about where the Mets would be without him, and he’s quite clearly positioned himself for a nice multi-year contract this winter.
Fellow righty Adrian Houser did not pitch well as a starter for the Mets, and while he’s no longer here, let’s not forget that for a while he did provide New York with a valuable long man in the bullpen for much of the summer.
But I’m here to talk about southpaw Sean Manaea, who has been a revelation here in 2024—especially lately.
After a disappointing season split between the San Francisco rotation and bullpen in 2023, Manaea entered free-agency looking for a team that would give him an opportunity to reestablish himself as a permanent rotation member.
He’s found that in Queens and then some.
The Mets and Manaea agreed to a one-year contract with a player option for 2025, and the way this year has gone, you’d have to believe the southpaw will not exercise $13.5 million option on his deal and instead opt out so to pursue a multi-year contract this winter.
And I whole heartedly believe that deal should come from the Mets.
A look at the Mets rotation for next season indicates the club will clearly have the need.
We know Kodai Senga should be back—though after missing almost all of this season due to injury is it fair to assume he’s a sure thing?
David Peterson is currently enjoying the best stretch of his career and has firmly established himself as a rotation member moving forward.
But what about after that?
Some of the Mets best prospects, righties Christian Scott and Brandon Sproat will almost certainly be factors in 2025. But counting on both to be full time rotation members from start to finish feels aggressive.
We’ve seen enough of Tylor Megill to know what he is, and you’d have to imagine his opportunities are about reaching their endpoint.
I firmly expect Stearns to be in the aisle for high end starting pitching this winter, and honestly I believe a reunion with his former Milwaukee ace, Corbin Burnes, is more likely than not.
In addition, the Mets should probably be in the market for Blake Snell, who has unquestionably established a market for himself in the top tier.
But it’s also obvious that this team could use Manaea beyond just this season, and I’m hopeful the two sides can make a return work.
Also- should and should the Mets pursue long-term contracts for both Burnes and Snell? The formula for short-term deals with opt outs in the middle tier of the market seems to be working out reasonably well for that category of starting pitchers, like the the ones they gave to Manaea and Severino. It’s a risk averse strategy and gives both sides leverage and the ability to reshape this part of the roster at a relatively low cost as-needed while leaving a part budget for other areas of the roster open.
Following his start yesterday in Chicago, Manaea has made 27 starts for the Mets this season and pitched to a stellar 3.35 ERA with a 1.12 WHIP. Opponents have hit just .207 against him, he’s punched out 154 hitters in 150.2 innings, and his 11 wins are just one behind his career high.
The Mets are firmly in the mix for a Wild Card position in the National League and Manaea is one of the biggest reasons why. He’ll make about five more starts this season, and the Mets need him to continue his hot streak down the stretch.
But those five starts will also help shape his decision making process during the winter and define his value as he likely heads into free agency once again.
Hopefully the two sides see a fit and can make this work on a 2-3 year basis in the off-season.
Around the League 🚩
Santiago Espinal delivered an 11th inning walk-off single to lead the Reds to a 4-3 win over Milwaukee
Randal Grichuk and Eugenio Suarez blasted home runs in the Diamondbacks 14-3 thumping of the Dodgers
Zach Eflin struck out nine Rockies over seven innings in the Orioles 6-1 victory at Coors Field
The Rangers scored four in the 10th and beat the A’s on a dramatic walk-off three run homer off the bat of Josh Jung
The red hot Cubs won their sixth straight game, crushing the Nationals 14-1
Manaea and Peterson, two lefties have proven to be the best part of our rotation. As in Abbot and Costello Met fans hear Atlanta Braves. Slowly we turn, step by step, inch by inch till we put them in the rear view mirror!
I totally agree I want to resign Manaea plus I’m sure we’ll be in on Burnes. We’ve seen Peterson take a big step this year and I like what I’ve seen from Blackburn as a #5/depth.