​Sean Manaea walked out of the clubhouse on Thursday with a clear sense of relief, a feeling earned by delivering a vintage performance on the mound for the Mets. In what was arguably his best outing of the season, Manaea worked seven innings, yielding two earned runs as the Mets earned a 7-3 victory over the Royals to clinch the series. He handed the Royals a solo homer on Lane Thomas’ first-pitch swing, then settled in, allowing only five more hits while piling up six strikeouts the rest of the way.
The 2026 campaign has been a rough one for Manaea. After a difficult spring, he began the year as a low-leverage long reliever, then stepped in as a bulk pitcher behind an opener before finally being trusted as a traditional starter again in mid-June. It’s a stark contrast to the dominant form he showed down the stretch in 2024, when his contributions helped propel the Mets to a thrilling playoff run to the NLCS.
“The year didn’t start the way he wanted,” Mets interim manager Andy Green said after the game. “I wasn’t around to see him walk through that opening chapter, but I heard he attacked his training relentlessly. He embraced his role, remained a great teammate, and continued to push every day. None of this surprises me from what I’ve seen in the short time I’ve worked with him.”
Manaea’s season began with continued struggles from 2025, a year in which he spent time on the injured list until mid-July and posted a 5.64 ERA as the Mets drifted out of contention. Thursday’s start marked the longest the left-hander had pitched since September 2024 and was the longest by any Mets starter thus far this season. “It’s the culmination of a lot of hard work and people believing in me, and me believing in myself,” Manaea said. “It feels really, really cool to do something like that again, and I’m just proud of all the work we’ve put in.”
In his latest stretch, Manaea has made six starts, delivering a 3.94 ERA over that span—closer to the 3.47 ERA he posted in 2024, a season that earned him a three-year, $75 million extension with the Mets. While his current 2026 ERA sits at 4.56, there’s a palpable sense that his recent form could anchor the rotation going forward, at least for the near term.
The Mets sit at 40-54, trailing playoff position by 12 games, and are likely already looking toward next season. Their path forward includes two other confirmed starters—Nolan McLean and Christian Scott—under contract, with the possibility of an extension for injured right-hander Clay Holmes lingering on the table, as reported by The Athletic’s Will Sammon. Manaea, meanwhile, remains the organization’s highest-paid pitcher and the lone left-hander under contract for 2027. If he can sustain even a portion of Thursday’s performance, he could help stabilize a rotation that has otherwise been pressed into making do with limited depth.
As the season unfolds, Manaea’s ability to repeat that level of performance will matter not only for the Mets’ immediate plans but for the franchise’s broader strategic direction. If he can recapture the form that carried him through the second half of 2024, he would give the Mets a rotation anchor they’ve been seeking, a reliable presence who can log innings, manage opposing lineups, and provide a sense of confidence to the pitching staff and the clubhouse. For now, Manaea’s Thursday return to form offered a bright, much-needed spark and a reminder of the potential that remains within him.