Is Sean Manaea Trustworthy With the Mets? Fantasy Baseball Outlook

Sean Manaea has been a solid pitcher throughout his eight-year big-league tenure. His 4.10 ERA fits nicely in the middle-to-back of just about every rotation in baseball. However, his most recent results are middling at best.

The Mets added Manaea on a two-year, $28 million pact this winter, adding another new arm to a rotation that saw plenty of turnover over the last several months. The plan is for the 31-year-old to start after he made 10 starts last season that sandwiched 25 relief outings. Manaea struggled as a starter before making 25 bullpen outings, concluding his 2023 season with four September starts.

Can Manaea put some inconsistent results and reward the Mets' faith? Can he return to relevance for prospective fantasy managers? Let's dive in and find out!

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Can Sean Manaea Be Trusted in 2024?

The Mets sure showed faith in Manaea, handing him $14 million in each of the next two seasons. The multi-year pact (and an opt-out after 2024) comes on the heels of a mediocre 4.44 ERA in 2023, the third time in four seasons in which he has posted an ERA of at least that figure. He tossed a 4.96 ERA as recently as the 2022 season in 158 innings for San Diego.

The Mets' faith is derived from Manaea's 2.25 ERA over four September starts to conclude his Giants tenure. "We were very encouraged by what we saw from him in the second half last season," said Mets president of baseball operations David Stearn. Indeed, Manaea posted a 3.43 ERA in 60 1/3 second-half innings versus a 5.49 mark across 57 1/3 first-half frames.

Despite some middling run-prevention results, Manaea has consistent control and has increased his strikeout rate in recent seasons. He's coming off a solid 17.2% K-BB% from last season and that came with an increased 8.4% BB%, a mark notably above his 6.5% career clip. His 25.7% K% from 2023 is a nice increase on his 22.1% career mark while he hovered around 20% in his early years.

In other words, Manaea doesn't hurt himself a whole lot while providing solid, if unspectacular, strikeout rates. His 15.6% K-BB% for his career is rock-solid and, outside of 2022, has only been better of late.

Given his lengthy history of solid results and quality strikeout-to-walk rates, Manaea is a decent later-round option on a Mets team aiming for far superior results in the 2024 campaign.

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