As the New York Mets ' season continues to spiral into an epic collapse, the team is reportedly on the verge of demoting a third starter this week.
Sean Manaea was one of the big surprises in 2024 as he seemed to find himself under pitching coach Jeremy Hefner, and had a career year. After missing the first few months of the season with an oblique and elbow injury, he was solid in his first four starts in July. However, the 33-year-old has gone into a terrible slump in his last seven outings.
In only one of his starts in August and September did he give up fewer than four runs. As the Mets continue to blow a sizable lead in the Wild Card race, Manaea has put himself in a position where he is losing trust from the coaching staff and fans. That is why a major change could be coming.
On Sunday morning, manager Carlos Mendoza revealed that Clay Holmes will get the start on Tuesday in what would normally be Sean Manaea's turn in the rotation ( via SNY ). Depending on how their series finale against the Texas Rangers goes, the Mets could then "potentially" follow Holmes with Manaea coming out of the bullpen.
Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images
Manaea is not the first notable starter the Mets are removing from the rotation this season after an awful slump. New York gave veteran Frankie Montas a two-year deal worth $34 million in the offseason. But after a slew of underwhelming performances, he was sent to the bullpen in August.
Earlier this month, the club was able to talk 2023 All-Star Kodai Senga to take a minor league assignment to work out some of his issues following a month of getting roughed up by opposing lineups. Now, Manaea, a pitcher who received a new three-year, $75 million deal in the offseason, could be headed to a permanent bullpen role for the final weeks of the season.
If this were 2024, the Mets would have to take what they could get from their struggling veteran starters because they would not have any obvious replacement. However, that is not the case this year.
Due to the hard work of President David Stearns and his development staff in the minor leagues, the Mets have, arguably, the best minor league system in baseball . That talent pool offered up an impressive harvest in 2025 as their top three pitchers on the farm proved ready to get the big league call over the last two months.
Nolan McLean has been outstanding in giving up just five runs in his first five starts. Jonah Tong has been rocked in his last two outings, but the player who was just in Double-A a couple of months ago may have the most upside of any of their young pitchers. And Brandon Sproat was strong in his second MLB start on Saturday as he gave up no runs over six innings against the Rangers.
Their performance and upside are why the Mets can actually demote their struggling veterans in August and September.
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