PORT ST. LUCIE \u2014 For the last three years, the Mets have talked about using a six-man rotation, only to see the plan thwarted by an injured pitcher or a pitcher they had to take out of the rotation. Now, as they get ready to break camp ahead of the 2026 season, they have six healthy starters, but the early schedule isn\u2019t favorable for using all six consecutively.<\/p>\n
The solution is to have left-hander Sean Manaea pitch in a piggyback role for the first two turns in the rotation. It\u2019s not ideal, but a six-man rotation might not be either.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have six guys throwing the ball really well, and we were pretty honest with all of them at the beginning of camp that if everyone was healthy, we\u2019d have to make some tough decisions,\u201d manager Carlos Mendoza said Saturday at Clover Park. \u201cOne of them was going to be pitching that type of role.\u201d<\/p>\n
Manaea is probably the most adaptable of the six starters, especially since he\u2019s pitched out of the bullpen in the past. With such a precise routine, Kodai Senga isn\u2019t very adaptable. The team doesn\u2019t want to disrupt Clay Holmes in his second season as a starter or the relatively inexperienced Nolan McLean. That left the two lefties, Manaea and David Peterson.<\/p>\n
Freddy Peralta, the staff ace and the Opening Day starter, was not considered.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause of the schedule and the off days, we don\u2019t feel like we need that sixth starter yet,\u201d Mendoza said. \u201cHe\u2019s going to make starts for us \u2014 this is just a couple times through, making sure guys get into their routine.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Mets still see him as a starter. The 34-year-old signed with the Mets as a starter in 2024, then re-signed again before the 2025 season, again as a starting pitcher. Manaea has been open about saying he doesn\u2019t particularly care for the unpredictability of relief pitching, but that he\u2019s willing to do what is best for the team. There was no pushback from the Indiana native when the Mets informed him of the decision, though admittedly, he wasn\u2019t exactly happy about it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI consider myself a starter, and to not be that is frustrating,\u201d Manaea said. \u201cBut at the end of the day, I\u2019m just going to do the work in whatever facet that is.\u201d<\/p>\n
This isn\u2019t a long-term solution, but Manaea and the Mets will have to figure out a way to keep him stretched out. Pitching in a piggyback role could mean only pitching three or four innings. At the moment, he\u2019s stretched out to throw 65 pitches, but once he\u2019s added back into the rotation, he\u2019ll need to be over that threshold. Manaea expects some trial and error when figuring out how to stay on a consistent work schedule. It\u2019s going to be challenging for the Mets to figure out how and when to use him in this role, while making sure he doesn\u2019t get too far away from a regular routine.<\/p>\n
It could mean throwing extra pitches in the bullpen after those piggyback outings, even if that\u2019s not the most effective way to get his pitch count up.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope that\u2019s not the case, I don\u2019t really like doing that,\u201d Manaea said. \u201cIt\u2019s just so much different actually pitching in the game. But, yeah, if that\u2019s what I\u2019ve got to do, then I\u2019ll do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
After spending much of last season on the injured list with a right oblique strain and a loose body in his left elbow, Manaea had a full, healthy spring and has continually said his body and his arm have felt great throughout.<\/p>\n
Last season, Manaea made only 15 appearances (12 starts), going 2-4 with a 5.64 ERA and a 4.39 FIP.<\/p>\n
Manaea, who has posted a 3.72 ERA in three spring starts, is set to face McLean in Monday\u2019s intrasquad game. After that, he isn\u2019t quite sure when he\u2019ll pitch next, which is an uncomfortable situation for any starting pitcher, given that the position requires them to be so routine-oriented.<\/p>\n
The velocity on his fastball was down to about 90-91 from 91-92 a year prior. This spring, his fastball has been sitting around 89, which is why he\u2019s added a cutter back into his pitch mix. Manaea is still confident he can be effective without velocity, but that he\u2019ll be able to get it back up early in the season. The Mets insist this decision was not made because of diminished velocity.<\/p>\n
After Peralta makes his Opening Day start at Citi Field on Thursday against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Peterson will pitch the second game, and McLean will close out the series. Holmes will open the series in St. Louis against the Cardinals, followed by Senga, then Peralta in the third game.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"PORT ST. LUCIE \u2014 For the last three years, the Mets have talked about using a six-man rotation,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":635811,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[2396],"tags":[5,1603,1712,42382,101,4,1690,61,2548,4203,6051,1268,1454],"class_list":{"0":"post-635810","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-mets","8":"tag-baseball","9":"tag-bullpen","10":"tag-clay-holmes","11":"tag-mclean","12":"tag-mets","13":"tag-mlb","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-mets","16":"tag-newyork","17":"tag-newyorkmets","18":"tag-peralta","19":"tag-sean-manaea","20":"tag-starting-rotation"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116268604135053462","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635810","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=635810"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/635810\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/635811"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=635810"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=635810"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=635810"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}