Sean Manaea is rewarding the Mets faith in him
Manaea pitched into the sixth inning to give the Mets a chance to rally and win their series opener against the Phillies
What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️
The Mets opened up their series against the Phillies with a 6-4 win in Philadelphia (box)
LHP Sean Manaea got the start and was soild despite being let down by his defense. His final line was 5.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K
RHP Devin Williams gave up a run but was able to nail down the save
RHP Huascar Brazobán, LHP A.J. Minter, and RHP Luke Weaver were outstanding and did not give up any runs or any hits in their appearances
LF Juan Soto brought the power to Philly. He went 2-for-4 with two home runs, 2 R, 2 RBI, and a walk
2B Marcus Semien got one of the biggest hits all night with his two-run triple. He went 2-for-4 with two RBIs
OF Carson Benge went 3-for-5 with a run and stolen base leading off
Roster Moves 📰
INF Vidal Bruján was outrighted to Triple-A Syracuse after he was designated for assignment earlier in the week
Injury Updates 🩺
SS Francisco Lindor (calf strain) will start a rehab assignment with Double-A Binghamton
OF Tyrone Taylor (hip flexor strain) will also begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Binghamton
Play of the Game ⭐️
The Mets met their division rivals for the first time this season and managed to open up with a 6-4 win. Juan Soto got the team off to a hot start with two big home runs but they couldn’t hold the lead and the game remained tied 3-3 until the seventh inning.
Eric Wagaman got the go-ahead hit with two outs to score Carson Benge. One batter later was Marcus Semien whose two-run triple ended up being the difference in the game. It was a big hit that gave them some insurance runs at the time but was enough for the win after Devin Williams gave up a run in the ninth.
The Just Mets Podcast 🎙️
In the latest midweek edition of the show, Andrew recaps another series loss vs the Reds while looking at some positives like Bo Bichette and Luke Weaver…
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Who’s Hot 🔥
Over his last seven games, OF Juan Soto is hitting .480/.594/.920 with three home runs, seven walks, seven RBIs, and six runs scored
Over his last 15 games, OF A.J. Ewing is hitting .308/.373/.481 with six runs, one home run, six RBIs, six walks, and three stolen bases
Over his last 15 games, RHP Luke Weaver has a 0.00 ERA with 8 hits, 4 walks, and 18 strikeouts in 16.2 innings pitched
Down on the Farm 🌾
OF Nick Morabito (No. 11 prospect, Triple-A): 2-for-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, K
LHP Jonathan Santucci (No. 8 prospect, Double-A): 6.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K
1B Corey Collins (High-A): 3-for-4, 2 R, BB
SS Ronny Mauricio (Single-A) 1-for-3, $
BOX SCORES
Single-A SLU | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR
Today’s Game 🗓
The Mets will enjoy an off day in Philly due to the World Cup before picking up the series again on Saturday.
The Mets kept the faith in Sean Manaea, and he is paying dividends again ✍️
It is no secret that the Mets rotation has been a weakness this season. Their unit is 17th in the league in fWAR (5.1), 26th in the league in innings pitched (346.1), and 17th in the league in ERA (4.47). Sure, that is probably better than it was a year ago, but it is still not that of a contender, to say the least. And, it has gotten worse with the injuries to Clay Holmes and Christian Scott, so they have had to patch together a rotation with whatever arms are available. That means, openers on a regular basis, bulk relief outings, and ultimately weighing down their bullpen, which, to be fair, has been elite this season.
For now, anyway.
After being relegated to the bullpen, Sean Manaea has entered the rotation almost by default since he is one of the few that can start a ballgame right now. However, he has rebuilt his velocity and spin over the first half of the 2026 season after what can only be described as a concerning start in that area of his game specifically.
The Mets took a bit of a chance even after he rebuilt his velocity by putting him back in the rotation, but, again, it was mostly out of need, or flat out desperation for that matter.
But he has been fine since the Mets put him back into a starting role. He is certainly rewarding the club’s faith and holding up his end of the bargain.
His overall numbers still aren’t pretty, but the numbers have been coming down recently. Overall, he is 1-2 with a 4.64 ERA, but he has been good so far in June to the tune of a 3.10 ERA, and hitters are batting just .205 against him. As a starter, he is 0-1 with a 3.18 ERA in 11.1 innings pitched compared with a 1-1 record and a 5.02 ERA as a reliever.
The series opener against the Phillies on Thursday was a prime example of how valuable Manaea is right now. While he wasn’t overly dominant, he kept his team in the game until they were able to take the lead late. Another key component to the win was the bullpen, who kept Philadelphia off the board, including Huascar Brazobán. The righty was available to pitch in the latter innings since he was not burned as an opener and he pitched an important inning after Manaea exited in the sixth. He finished off the inning and got an out in the seventh before he was lifted in favor of A.J. Minter with the lefties coming up in the Philadelphia lineup. Mendoza had his bullpen set up perfectly, and despite Williams faltering, they came through for the win.
But that’s the key with Manaea. They don’t need him to be what he was in the second half of the 2024 season (although that would be nice, obviously). They need him to be somewhere in between that and what he was in 2025, which is simply a serviceable starter they can rely on to keep the team in games for 5-6 innings every five days.
If he can do that, he will have earned his paycheck. So far, so good.
Freddy Peralta and Nolan McLean are the only other givens in the rotation right now, so it would help this team a lot if Manaea could add some stability. Having those three at the front of this rotation is a start, and if they can find two more starters among David Peterson, Kodai Senga, perhaps Christian Scott when he gets back, and maybe Jonah Tong or Jack Wenninger in the minors, then at least they can turn what has been an unmitigated weakness to date into something they can build off of going forward.
This season could be a lost cause, but there’s actually still a lot of time left for the Mets to make this interesting if Manaea can keep this going and they can get the rest of this rotation fixed. They are still only five games out of a Wild Card spot, and Francisco Lindor is on his way back to the team. As another recent blue and orange championship team showed us, no matter how big the lead is, there is always a chance for a comeback if there is still time left on the clock. There is still time left for the Mets to make a run, but they need to start doing it on a more consistent basis. It begins with getting solid starts from the rotation and maybe ends with a run in October.
Ya Gotta Believe, right?
Around the League 🚩
Angels OF Mike Trout suffered a hamstring injury and was placed on the IL (ESPN)
Twins OF Byron Buxton does not want to be traded away from the Twins with his name popping up in trade rumors (ESPN)
White Sox DH Andrew Benintendi hit a pinch-hit go-ahead grand slam to take down the Yankees (MLB.com)
Australian World Cup fans attended the Mariners game ahead of the USA-Australia soccer match (KUOW)
MLB proposed an overhaul to amateur-entry system in the latest labor negotiations that would cut signing bonuses, make high schoolers ineligible for the draft, and institute an international draft (ESPN)
Manaea did look pretty good. Torrens has to catch more. Let Alvarez DH. We need to upgrade the MJ Melendez and Brett Baty at bats against RHPs. That was a good win 👏