Mets' Sean Manaea not concerned about drop in velocity, cites need for 'adrenaline'
Mets pitcher Sean Manaea during a spring training workout on Feb. 14, 2026, in Port St. Lucie, Fla. Credit: Newsday/Alejandra Villa Loarca
JUPITER, Fla. – No one could deny Sean Manaea’s stat line was excellent Tuesday afternoon. He tossed four perfect innings against the Marlins, striking out four in his third Grapefruit League start.
But his velocity has been significantly down all spring, and chatter about potential concerns surrounding it did not go away Tuesday. Twenty of Manaea’s 52 pitches were four-seam fastballs, averaging 88.4 mph and peaking at 89.9 mph. He has thrown 68 four-seamers at an average of 88.6 mph this spring and has hit 90 mph only once, a 90.4-mph heater last Thursday.
He averaged 91.7 mph on his four-seamer in 2025, when multiple injuries limited him to 15 games (12 starts). Despite this spring’s 3.1-mph drop from last season, the 34-year-old lefthander has reiterated he is healthy and unconcerned.
“It’s low, but at the end of the day I feel good, and I'm not concerned about it whatsoever,” Manaea said after his performance at Roger Dean Chevrolet Stadium. “I know [when] I get up to Citi Field and get some adrenaline going, I think it'll shoot back up. But right now, it is what it is.”
Last year, Manaea had a right oblique strain and a loose body in his elbow that kept him from making his season debut until July 13.
With his health seemingly not a worry and Opening Day around the corner, what can he do to get his velocity back up?
“I've tried long-tossing, pulldowns, all the stuff,” he said. “I think I just need some adrenaline.”
Manaea, who produced two whiffs on his four-seamer Tuesday, said that needing adrenaline to get going after the spring has been the case “quite often,” and he has been in this situation with low velocity before. Craig Kimbrel, who averaged 92.1 mph on his four-seamer Tuesday and averaged 93.5 mph on it last year, also mentioned adrenaline in getting his velocity up, saying: “It might just take a full crowd and having the lights on.”
In Manaea’s final start of spring training in 2024 – his lone camp with the Mets prior to this year after missing last spring – he averaged 93.9 mph on his four-seamer.
According to Baseball Savant, Manaea used his four-seamer 61% of the time last year. He used it 31% of the time in 2024 with an average speed of 92.2 mph and 14% of the time in 2023 with an average speed of 93.8 mph. This spring, he’s used it 48.2% of the time, mixing in a sweeper, cutter, changeup and sinker.
If Manaea’s velocity never gets back to where it was, can he still be effective?
“Yeah, 100%,” he said. “I've done it in the past. I've pitched with 86, 87. Obviously, I don't want to be there. But I still think I'm effective, and I've done it in the past.”
Carlos Mendoza agreed.
“Especially with the cutter, so that's another weapon,” the manager said. “It's not only the four-seam from that slot. It's just now he's got something that is going in and up to righties, and then he's got the changeup and the sweeper.
“But I think the velo will come.”
Manaea has tinkered with the cutter, a pitch he hasn’t used since 2024. Mendoza lauded the pitch’s late movement that gets onto hitters’ hands.
Manaea went 2-4 with a 5.64 ERA in 60 2/3 innings last season, a stark difference from his 12-6 record and 3.47 ERA in 2024. Mendoza knows that for his rotation to be at its best, it needs something closer to the version of Manaea from two seasons ago.
“He's a guy that we missed last year, and we felt it,” Mendoza said. “He's one of those guys where he can carry a team when he's throwing the ball well. He takes pride in going deep in games and giving the team a chance to win, so he's a big part of what we're doing here.”
Notes & quotes: Francisco Lindor went 1-for-4 in his second Grapefruit League start since returning from hamate bone surgery. “Another good day,” Mendoza said. “Aggressive swings. Looked like a normal player.” … Juan Soto will be back in camp Thursday after playing for the Dominican Republic in the World Baseball Classic … The Mets had another round of roster cuts Tuesday, optioning MJ Melendez, who signed a one-year, $1.5 million deal this offseason, and former top pitching prospect Christian Scott, healthy after having Tommy John surgery in September 2024, to Triple-A. Mendoza said: “The fact that [Scott] put himself in a position where from day one he's throwing the ball the way he was doing, now it's just a matter of him going back down there and continuing to work on the things he needs to work on, develop, get some innings under his belt, and he's going to help us.” … Five players were also reassigned to minor-league camp: infielders Christian Arroyo and Jose Rojas, and righthanders Adbert Alzolay, Nick Burdi and Daniel Duarte.
Ben Dickson is Newsday Sports' general assignment reporter. He joined Newsday’s high school sports staff in 2023 after graduating from Maryland, where he covered several of the Terrapins' teams.
