The morning felt routine, but the decision behind the scenes was anything but.
The New York Mets will open the season with Sean Manaea working out of the bullpen, manager Carlos Mendoza confirmed on Saturday.
It is the kind of move that says more about the roster than the player.
The Mets simply have more viable starters than spots right now, and the early schedule gave them room to make a call like this.
The team will begin the year with a five-man rotation: Freddy Peralta, David Peterson, Nolan McLean, Clay Holmes, and Kodai Senga.
With an off day following Opening Day against the Pittsburgh Pirates, there is no immediate need to stretch to six starters.
Mendoza didn’t try to overexplain it: “Six guys throwing the ball really well,” he said. “We knew we were going to have to make a tough decision.”
A role change, not a step back
Manaea, now 34 years old, is expected to take on a piggyback role. That means he will follow a starter and cover multiple innings, staying stretched out instead of shifting into short relief.
The key detail here is that this is not permanent. Mendoza made that clear.
“He’s going to make starts for us,” he said.
The Mets are already looking ahead to a stretch of nine games in nine days, where a six-man rotation could come into play. When that happens, Manaea is expected to be right in the mix.
The context behind the decision
To understand the move, it helps to look at Manaea’s recent path.
He signed a three-year, $75 million deal ahead of last season after a strong second half in 2024 helped push the Mets to the National League Championship Series, according to ESPN. At that point, he looked like a key piece of the rotation.
Then came 2025.
Manaea missed more than three months with a strained oblique and later pitched through an elbow issue. He finished with a 5.64 ERA across 15 games (12 starts), never quite finding a rhythm.
This spring offered some optimism. He had sharp outings, including four scoreless innings against Miami. Still, one trend has been hard to ignore. His fastball velocity has dipped each year, going from 93.8 mph in 2023 to 91.7 mph in 2025, now sitting in the upper 80s.
Mendoza downplayed that factor.
“Not happy… but he understood,” Mendoza said of Manaea’s reaction.
What this means for the Mets early in the season
The Mets are approaching this season a little differently. Last year exposed how quickly pitching depth can disappear. This time, they are trying to stay ahead of it.
Keeping Manaea in a multi-inning relief role gives them immediate flexibility without taking him out of the starting equation.
Around the league, this kind of approach is becoming more common. Teams are adjusting rotations based on schedule, workload, and matchups instead of sticking to a rigid structure from day one.
For the Mets, the plan is simple. Use the depth now. Adjust when needed.
And if things go the way they expect, Sean Manaea won’t be in the bullpen for long.
Sources and methodology: Based on official comments from Carlos Mendoza, team announcements from the New York Mets, and verified reporting from outlets including ESPN and MLB coverage.
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