Sean Manaea’s latest Mets battle provides hugely invigorating sign

Perhaps the most encouraging part of Sean Manaea’s outing in Wednesday’s 6-3 win over the Angels was that he wasn’t at his best and still gave up just one run in five innings. 

It was the latest positive step for Manaea, who missed the first half of the season after his comeback from a strained oblique suffered in spring training was delayed when a loose body was discovered in his left elbow. But he’s made three appearances — two starts — for the Mets since his July 13 return and has allowed just three earned runs in 12 ¹/₃ innings to provide some stability for a rotation in need of it. 

Afterward, Carlos Mendoza said Manaea wasn’t his sharpest, which made his effectiveness all the more impressive. 

“He found a way to get through five innings and battled,” the manager said. “It was good to see on a day, maybe he’ll tell you, he wasn’t feeling it for a lot of different reasons.” 

Mendoza was right. 

“I definitely didn’t feel great out there, but good enough to get the job done,” Manaea said. “Effective enough.” 

The bar for Manaea will be higher the rest of the way, especially as the Mets deal with monitoring Clay Holmes’ pitch count and cross their fingers that Kodai Senga and Frankie Montas stay healthy after IL stints earlier in the season. 

Manaea was sharp enough Wednesday to strike out the side in order in the first. 

And when he pitched himself into trouble in the second — first with two on and no one out and then with the bases loaded and two out — he got out of it without allowing a run by fanning Chris Taylor to end the threat. 

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The only damage done by the Angels against Manaea came in the third, when Mike Trout took him deep with two outs. 

Manaea ended up retiring the final seven batters he faced and allowed just a pair of hits and walks over five innings. He also threw a season-high 82 pitches as he gets built up to full strength. 

“Stamina-wise, I’m not fully there yet,” Manaea said. “I’ve got to do a better job of getting ahead of guys and putting them away.” 

Still, with the added deception provided by the lower arm angle he started using midway through last season, Manaea was able to pitch well despite not being at his best. 

He’s confident more innings in a major league setting will get him back to where he wants to be. 

“I’m definitely an adrenaline guy,” Manaea said. “It’s hard to replicate anywhere else. … I feel close. I definitely feel good.” 

And given his health issues this season, he added, “I want to make my next start.” 

He will get an extra day off because the Mets are off on Thursday before their West Coast trip begins in San Francisco on Friday, followed by a series in San Diego.