The Mets should consider a contract extension for Sean Manaea

Manaea - who can opt-out at the end of the year - calmed things down for the Mets with seven strong innings on Friday

Michael Baron

Aug 17, 2024

What’s Up with the Mets? ⚾️

The Mets came from behind and cruised to a 7-3 win over the Marlins at Citi Field on Friday night (box)
Sean Manaea walked the first batter of the game but otherwise gave the Mets seven solid innings, allowing three runs on five hits, the one walk and four strikeouts
José Buttó did the rest out of the bullpen, tossing two scoreless innings
Jeff McNeil’s homer gave the Mets the lead as part of a six-run fourth inning, and Brandon Nimmo broke out of his slump with a three-run homer in the same frame, his first homer since July 10
Friday was the club’s 32nd comeback win of the season, they’re 21-16 vs the NL East, 6-8 in August, 45-16 when scoring five or more runs, are 51-35 when they hit at least one home run in a game, 37-19 when scoring first, and 14-13 since the All-Star Game

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Playoff Race 🏁

The Mets gained ground on all three of the teams ahead of them in the wild card race on Friday night. They are now 5.5 games behind the Diamondbacks and Padres for the first and second wild card spots, and just a game behind the Braves for the third wild card spot.

There are 40 games remaining.

Per FanGraphs, the Mets have an 24.3% chance of making the postseason.

New York has the 10th most difficult schedule in MLB the rest of the way

Tiebreakers:

vs. ATL: 5-5
vs. ARI: 2-2
vs. SD: 3-0
vs. CIN: 2-1
vs. STL: 4-2 (finished)
vs. SF: 2-4 (finished)
vs. PIT: 5-2 (finished)
vs. CHC: 4-3 (finished)

Mets pitching, since the All-Star Game… 🏟️

4.00 ERA (14th)
108 walks (29th)
259 strikeouts (4th)
200 hits allowed (10th)
31 home runs allowed (14th)
20 HBP (30th)
16 wild pitches (30th)

Who’s Hot 🔥

LHP Sean Manaea has a 2.73 ERA over his last 12 starts with 27 walks and 69 strikeouts in 69.1 IP during that span
Over his last 29 games, Jeff McNeil is hitting .313/.358/.647 with 12 doubles, seven home runs, 19 RBI and 18 runs scored
Over his last 77 games, Francisco Lindor is hitting .303/.374/.528 with 22 doubles, a triple, 16 home runs and 48 RBI with 55 runs scored

Injury Updates 🏥

OF Starling Marte (bone bruise, knee) played a full game in right field on Friday for Triple-A Syracuse - he went 0-for-3 with an RBI. He could be activated this weekend
RHP Dedniel Núñez (right pronator strain) threw live batting practice, 20 pitches on Friday. He could begin a rehab assignment on Tuesday

Down on the Farm 🌾

RHP Blade Tidwell (#8 prospect, Triple-A): 6.1 IP, 2 R, 4 H, 3 BB, 5 K
LHP Zach Thornton (High-A): 5 IP, 1 H, 3 K
RHP Joel Díaz (Low-A): 5 IP, 1 R, 3 H, 2 BB, 6 K

BOX SCORES

Single-A STL | High-A BRK | Double-A BNG | Triple-A SYR

Mets Top 30 Prospect Rankings

Today’s Game 🗓

Match-up: Mets (63-59) vs. Marlins (45-77)

Where: Citi Field — Flushing, NY

Starters: RHP Luis Severino (7-6, 4.17 ERA) vs. RHP Max Meyer (3-2, 5.20 ERA)

When: 4:10 PM EDT

Where to Watch: SNY

Maybe the Mets and Sean Manaea have a future together? ✍️

After what happened on Thursday at Citi Field, the Mets needed a game like the one they had against the Marlins on Friday.

No, I am not talking about who threw out the first pitch. I am talking about who threw the rest of the pitches in that game and what the result was.

Sean Manaea walked the first batter of the game, and all I could think of was, “seriously?” The club had walked 11 batters the day before in a brutal, unacceptable loss to the A’s, and the first thing this guy did was walk a batter.

But that would be the last walk he issued on the night, and the last walk until José Buttó walked an inconsequential batter in the ninth inning in what was a nervous evening early, but ultimately a laugher after the Mets put up a six-spot in the fourth inning and Manaea and Buttó kept the Miami offense down the rest of the way.

And in a race like this, when your team wins a ballgame, good things happen in the standings.

The Mets pulled back to within a game of the Braves in the wild card race, pulled a smidge closer to the now-distant Padres and Diamondbacks.

In other words, it was a good night for the Mets after what can only be termed as a brutal last 7-10 days for this club.

Manaea gave the Mets something they’ve been sorely lacking in general, pretty much from day one on Friday: a solid, steady, smooth start. It’s not always pretty with Manaea but he is putting together a strong overall stretch despite his clunker in Seattle last weekend. He has a 2.73 ERA over his last 12 starts and is averaging nearly six innings per start in each and averaging 2.3 walks per game during that span.

By the way, I’ve been thinking about the Mets, Manaea and the medium-term future for the two over the last few days…

Manaea, 32, signed a two-year deal in the off-season but has an opt-out at the end of this year. He has a 3.46 ERA for the season, which if I were a gambler, I’d put money on Manaea opting out and seeking a new, multi-year deal unless the Mets decide to extend him beyond 2025, which wouldn’t be the worst idea in the world for them.

He has reformed his pitching style - thanks to working at Driveline Baseball and developing a crafty sinker/sweeper combination - after struggling over the last few years and figured out a way to be a dependable, mid-rotation starter in the second phase of his career. For a team in need of starting pitching beyond this season, signing Manaea to a 2-3 year extension at a similar price point would check a big box for the club going forward, and eliminate a need on the shopping list this winter.

Remember - Luis Severino can be a free agent, as can José Quintana. The Mets do have control over David Peterson and Paul Blackburn, and they don’t want to block the road for top pitching prospect Brandon Sproat and/or Christian Scott (assuming that elbow is healthy). But obviously, the Mets will be in the market not only for a top shelf starter but at least one pitcher like Manaea as well.

Nobody is saying Manaea is going to be a frontline starter. He doesn’t need to be one. The Mets have Kodai Senga (if he can ever get back out there, so he’s a question mark too) and again, there’s no doubt in my mind the Mets will look for another top shelf starter.

To have Manaea as a third or fourth starter in the $13m-16m price point is totally fine by me. Aside from Sproat and Scott, the Mets don’t really have any inspiring options on the immediate horizon, and if the Mets want to contend not just next season beyond as well, they’ll need quality, steady veterans as a result.

So, why not Manaea?

Around the League 🚩

The D-Backs rallied for two in the ninth to tie the Rays, but Tampa Bay walked them off in the bottom of the inning for a 5-4 win in St. Pete
The Rockies put up six runs in the first two innings at Coors Field, and cruised to a 7-3 win over the Padres
The Braves offense browned out again in a 3-2 loss to the Angels in Anaheim
Aaron Judge hit his 44th home run as the Yankees shutout the Tigers 3-0 to move back into first place in the AL East