Sean

Manaea

This was almost the night Manaea would finally complete six innings for the first time since May 13th. Almost, that is, until a massive thunderstorm held this game up for almost two hours when he had thrown 77 pitches through five innings. Otherwise, Manaea was his usual self: missing some bats, avoiding hard contact, and dishing out plenty of walks.

Manaea had a no-hitter going in this one through five innings and retired 14 straight after a shaky first inning. Yet, his inability to get through a lineup for the third time did him and the Mets in. Hopefully you don’t play in a quality start league if you roster Manaea because this is now 11 of 14 starts where he failed to complete six innings.

This was a nice bounce-back for Manaea after a rough outing in London last weekend. He leaned on his two-seamer for a bevy of called strikes and whiffs as he crowded the Padres hitters all night. Their only hard-hit ball was Jackson Merrill’s impressive solo shot to center field through the rain. Still, Manaea is a true five-and-dive throwing fewer than six innings in five straight outings and in 10 of his 13 starts this season.

Manaea drew the starting assignment for Saturday’s London Series opener against the division-rival Phillies and was unable to complete four frames. The wheels came off completely in the fourth inning when he gave up homers to Bryce Harper and Whit Merrifield in a disastrous six-run frame. He’ll bring a 4.30 ERA, 1.35 WHIP and 60/25 K/BB ratio across 60 2/3 innings (12 starts) into a home outing on Friday against the Padres.

After two scoreless frames, Manaea loaded the bases with a base hit and two walks in the third. Christian Walker would clear them all with a grand slam to put the Diamondbacks ahead. A double and a base hit in the sixth would drive in a run and knock Manaea from the game with two outs at 105 pitches. He struck out a season-high ten batters. The 32-year-old left-hander will take a 3.63 ERA, 1.30 WHIP, and a 57/24 K/BB ratio across 57 innings into a start against the Phillies in New York next Saturday.

Both of Manaea’s runs were incredibly frustrating: an errant pick-off by catcher Tomás Nido to third allowed Matt Chapman to come home and then nine-hitter Brett Wisely hit the third home run of his career. Still, Manaea continued what’s been a great start to the season despite an inability to pitch deep into games. The Giants swung and missed at his sinker 10 times on Sunday, the most whiffs that pitch has gotten in any game for Manaea this season. He’ll take a 3.16 ERA into his next start against the Diamondbacks.

This was a very Manaea start, going five frames, missing bats, and limiting damage. He’s been very solid this season with a 3.11 ERA and three wins in nine starts. Walks have been an issue for him, but not on Sunday.

Manaea coughed up a run in the opening frame, but managed to keep the Phillies scoreless over his final five innings of work. He struck out six and only issued one walk. The 32-year-old lefty has allowed three earned runs or fewer in seven of his eight starts to kick off his Mets debut. He’ll bring a strong 3.05 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 37/20 K/BB ratio across 41 1/3 innings (eight starts) into an extremely favorable road matchup on Saturday against the last-place Marlins.

Manaea was cruising along in this one until his final frame when the Cardinals struck for three runs on a trio of hits and a walk. It was backstops Willson Contreras and Iván Herrera that delivered run-scoring hits in the frame and wound up forcing the veteran lefty to settle for a no-decision. He finished with just one strikeout and only handed out one free pass. He’ll bring a respectable 3.31 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and 31/19 K/BB ratio across 36 1/3 innings (seven starts) into a tough matchup on Sunday against the division-rival Braves.

While Manaea only gave up one hit, he also walked four batters in five innings and threw a first-pitch strike to just 10 of the 21 batters he faced. He was able to consistently find the zone with his four-seam and sinker, but his sweeper and changeup were less successful, and he didn’t get a single whiff on the sweeper. Still, the fastballs and changeup were more than enough on Tuesday, as he put together a 36 percent whiff rate and 28 percent CSW. Inefficiency has been an issue for Manaea throughout the season, which has put a damper on his fantasy appeal since he has a 3.07 ERA and has looked good for long stretches. He can probably be trusted in deeper leagues against the Rays this weekend, and could be a riser in fantasy circles if he can improve his command.