Manaea to bullpen as Mets name Opening Day rotation
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- Sean Manaea will open the 2026 season in the Mets' bullpen in a piggyback/multi-inning relief role, manager Carlos Mendoza announced Saturday in Port St. Lucie
- Mendoza set the Mets' Opening Day rotation in order: Freddy Peralta, David Peterson, Nolan McLean, Clay Holmes, and Kodai Senga, citing a five-man staff for the first two turns before an off day after Thursday's opener against Pittsburgh
- Mendoza said the team will reevaluate before a nine-games-in-nine-days stretch, with a potential six-man rotation that includes Manaea
- Manaea acknowledged frustration but added, 'I'm still pitching in the big leagues, so I can't complain about anything,' and is scheduled to start an intrasquad game Monday
- Manaea's 2025 season was derailed by a strained oblique that cost him 3½ months and a loose body in his elbow, producing a 5.64 ERA across 15 games (12 starts) as he pitched through the injury
- Manaea's fastball velocity has dropped each season since 2023 — from 93.8 mph to 91.7 mph in 2025 — and sat in the upper 80s this spring, though Mendoza said the decline did not factor into the bullpen decision
- Manaea, 34, signed a three-year, $75 million contract before 2025 after his strong second half in 2024 helped fuel the Mets' run to the National League Championship Series
Why it matters: The Mets are paying a back-of-the-rotation starter $75 million to work out of the bullpen, a concession to a crowded and healthy spring competition. The decision is explicitly temporary — Mendoza left the door open for a six-man rotation within the season's first two weeks — making this less a demotion than a short-term fit problem, though Manaea's three-year declining velocity trend raises the longer-term question of how much starter the Mets are actually buying.
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