Sean Manaea told reporters during the postgame that the “elbow's fine, everything's good," when asked if his health was impacting another disappointing performance.
After leading the Mets staff down the stretch in 2024, Manaea has looked more like the disappointing hurler from his San Diego and San Francisco days than the mini-ace that mimicked Chris Sale with the Mets last season.
Anytime a pitcher loses time in Spring Training to an injury, they spend the summer catching up, often never fulfilling the season’s potential. In the case of Manaea, he not only dealt with the oblique issue, but it was also reported that he has bone spurs in his elbow.
Spurs are an injury that can be pitched through, but can obviously impact a pitcher’s extension and ability to throw certain pitches. It can also damage ligaments and lead to the dreaded T-word, but let’s stay away from that conversation.
Is Manaea healthy and just not executing pitches? What do the numbers say?
Let’s have some fun today and play junior pitching coach and data analyst.
On the surface, his velocity doesn’t seem all that different. He’s actually got more separation between the fastball and sweeper, which I think would help throw hitters off. It appears the opposition is getting better swings off Manaea. If you watch the games, your eyes show you that each time out. Is it the location, or is it just bad execution? That’s obvious to see with the eye test, but the repertoire is vastly different, and it hasn’t been discussed year to date.
Look at the breakdown.
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