The New York Mets know what’s wrong with Sean Manaea.
That’s only half the battle, though.
Whether or not they can fix it could determine the future of Manaea’s major league career.
In essence, Manaea’s arm slot got too low in 2025.
This is what SNY’s John Harper posted on X on Thursday:
Interesting to hear Mendoza say today the Mets thought Manea lowered his arm angle too much last year, after success with the side-arm delivery in ’24. Felt it messed with his mechanics and command. Working to find that ’24 arm slot again. Was hit hard today in live BP, fwiw.
— John Harper (@NYNJHarper) February 19, 2026
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Whatever Manaea was doing in 2024, it worked. He had a 3.47 ERA and a career-high 181.2 innings.
Whatever he did in 2025, it didn’t. He had a 5.64 ERA and threw only 60.2 innings as he battled injuries.
So which way is this going to go?
Can Sean Manaea fix his arm slot problem?
It might actually not be as big a problem as thought.
He had a career-best strikeout rate in 2025 and was undone by allowing 1.93 home runs per nine innings.
It seems unlikely that the bad homer luck all stems from the arm slot.
Manaea still has good control, and his stuff is still effective.
It seems he’s got a chance to move in a positive direction this season.
