Even in the loss, Sean Manaea and the Mets had a significant win. The veteran southpaw, who missed the first three-and-a-half months of the 2025 season due to a strained oblique and elbow injury, made his debut in New York’s first-half finale against the Royals in Kansas City. “It feels really good to be back and to be healthy,” Manaea said.
Following starter Clay Holmes, who pitched five innings, Manaea went 3.1 innings, struck out seven, and allowed five hits with no walks. He was clean into the ninth, including five straight strikeouts between the sixth and seventh innings, but allowed the game-winning, walk-off single to Nick Loftin in the Mets’ 3-2 loss.
“Typical Sean Manaea,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Fastball playing at the top of the zone and getting swings and misses. The sweeper was really good. We saw that the whole year [last season], and it was good to see it again today.”
His return provides a crucial boost to a rotation that had been struggling recently. The Mets had been without ace Kodai Senga, who returned after a calf strain, and Tylor Megill and Paul Blackburn are on the injured list. Griffin Canning was lost for the season with a ruptured Achilles. Frankie Montas also missed the first part of the season with a lat issue before debuting last month.
For the first time since last year’s limited postseason run, New York has its top two starters, Senga and Manaea, for the second half of the season, as they compete for first place in the National League East with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Manaea was one of the Mets’ MVPs last season, especially during their second-half playoff push. In Queens, he pitched a career-high 181.2 innings with a 12-6 record, 3.47 ERA, and 184 strikeouts.
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