Juan Soto was perplexed.
The new, vaunted Yankees slugger had a full count against New York Mets southpaw Sean Manaea in the bottom of the fourth of a scoreless game down in Tampa, FL.
Manaea let an 88-mph changeup rip, the pitch dropping out of the zone to get Soto whiffing. The Yankee star could not help but stare at Manaea, almost in disbelief, as he walked back to the dugout. The Mets’ lefty simply nodded in return as in to let him know that that had indeed just happened.
Despite a 2-0 loss to the Yankees, Manaea’s start in the Mets’ spring training finale was another strong one, allowing those pair of runs on five hits over five innings while striking out seven and not allowing a walk.
His sweeper — a new pitch he developed last season while working his way out of the San Francisco Giants bullpen back to the starting rotation — was on full display, too, most notably getting Aaron Judge whiffing at it twice to pick up punchouts in the first and fourth innings.
“All my pitches felt great,” Manaea said (h/t SNY). “I felt like I held my velocity a lot better this game than previous games. No walks, control was there, throwing everything for strikes in different counts. Just working quick. Overall, it was a great spring.”
The exhibition slate was a strong indication that a bounce-back season could be around the corner for the 32-year-old lefty, who owned a 4.73 ERA over the previous two years with the Giants and Oakland Athletics. Across 16.2 innings this spring, he allowed six earned runs (3.24 ERA) on 18 hits with 21 strikeouts and just four walks.
“From a pitches standpoint, this is the best I’ve felt in spring training,” Manaea said earlier this month. “It’s very encouraging… we’re in a great spot.”
Manaea is projected to be the No. 4 starter within the Mets’ rotation to start the season — a decision that appears predicated on New York’s first opponents, the Milwaukee Brewers, struggling against right-handed pitchers. That means he should get the ball on April 1 for the series opener against the Detroit Tigers.
