Sean Manaea: 2024 Mets Wild Card Champions Top Pitcher (2024 - 2025)

Sean Anthony Manaea was born February 1st, 1992, at Valparaiso, Indiana. His father Faalodi, is an American Samoan who met his wife, Opal, Sean's mother while stationed in Indiana during the Vietnam War. Sean did not visit Samoa until 2014 & began to embrace the culture.

Nickname: Sean is known as "the throwin' Samoan".

In 2013, Manaea was a first-round draft pick of the Kansa City Royals.

MLB Career: In July 2015, he was traded to the Oakland A's for Ben Zobrist. Manaea spent six seasons in Oakland, making his debut in 2016 going 7-9 with a 3.86 ERA. 

Over the next two seasons he was a 12-game winner each time, with a 4.36 ERA & 3.59 ERA respectively. He is just one of five pitchers in Oakland history to have at least five straight winning seasons. His three straight seasons of ten or more wins made him just the third A's pitcher to do that since 2004.

No Hitter: On April 21st, 2018, Manaea threw a no hitter over the Boston Red Sox in Oakland.
He struck out ten & walked two as he tossed the A's first no hitter since Dallas Branden in 2010.

He suffered a shoulder injury that shortened his season & kept him out until September of 2019.

2019 Post Season- ALWC: He got the start in the ALWC game against Tampa & served up three HRs, two to Yandy Diaz & another to Avisail Garcia taking the 5-1 loss.

 After the Covid-19 shortened season, he spent his final season in Oakland going 11-10 with a respectable 3.91 ERA (10th best in the AL). That season he led the AL in starts (32) shut outs (2) & complete games (2). His 194 strike outs were most in the AL 

On April 20th, he threw a six-hit shutout over the Twins at home, then on June 2nd tossed a four-hit shutout in Seattle.

In April 2022 Manea was traded to the San Diego Padres, where he went 8-9 with a 4.96 ERA for the second-place wild card winning Friars. He was especially tough against lefties as they hit just .187 against him. Manaea served up a career high 29 HRs third most & his HR/9 innings ratio was second worst in the majors. Manaea struggled on the road posting a 6.16 ERA as opposed to 3.62 at home in Petco Park. 

That year his brother Dane, stationed at nearby Camp Pendleton, got to see Sean pitch in person on Military Appreciation Day at Petco Park.

Antartica Excursion: In the off-season Sean, along with Joe Musgrove, their girlfriends, two paralympic Athletes & a 16-year-old born without arms & lower legs, as well as others went on a nine-day trip to Antartica raising money for The Challenged Athletes Foundation.

2022 Post Season- NLWC Series: In the Padres loss to the Phillies, Manaea came on in the 4th inning of Game #2 giving up five runs, including a two run HR to Rhys Hoskins.

After the season he was a free agent & signed on with the San Francisco Giants. There he was 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA for the fourth place Giants. Manaea began the season as a starter but was 1-2 with a 7.96 ERA & placed in the bullpen. From July 29th to the end of the season he posted the third best ERA in the NL at 2.65. In September he was back in the starting role going 2-1 thru the month.

Mets Career: In January 2024, he was signed by the New York Mets. Sean chose to wear uniform #59 in honor of his half-brother David, who passed away from cancer at the age of 59.

Sean Manaea got the Opening Day start in Detroit & had a fine outing, shutting out the Tigers thru six innings, striking out eight although the Mets lost the game being shut out 5-0. In his second start, at Cincinnati he gave up just one run to the Reds in five innings & earned his first Mets career win.

It would be another month until he earned his next win, first on April 13th he gave up a season worst eight runs (six earned) in a 11-7 loss to the Royals at Citi Field. He then suffered three no decisions, although he gave up two runs or less in each of those outings, including shutting out the Giants in San Francisco for 4.2 innings.

On May 6th, Manaea earned his second win beating the Cardinals in St. Louis. On May 13th, he went against the Phillies Christopher Sanchez, pitching six innings allowing just a run but took no decision in the Mets loss. 

On May 19th, Sean beat the Marlins in Miami to get to 3-1. The Mets horrible May where they went 9-18 finally ended.

On June 1st, he reached double digits in strike outs for the first of four times on the season but took a loss Arizona at Citi Field giving up six runs (five earned). 

London Series: On June 8th, he got the start in London against the Phillies Ranger Saurez,
taking the loss allowing HRs to Bryce Harper & Whit Merrifield. 

On June 14th, he snapped his two-game losing streak, in a 2-1 win over San Diego at Citi Field. From here the Mets season turned around starting out when they won 12 of their next 14 games.

From June 26th to July 7th, over his next three starts, Sean gave up just one earned run in 18 innings of work, although he walked then he struck out 14 as opposing batters hit just .154 against him.

On June 26, Manaea shut out the AL NY team for five innings at Citi Field, in his first subway series game. In the game he walked a season high five batters. The Mets hit three HRs & went on to a 12-3 win with Sean earning his fifth win (5-3) of the year.

On July 7th at Pittsburgh, Manaea shut out the Pirates thru six innings but took no decision in the 3-2 win.

On July 12th, he pitched seven innings over the Rockies at Citi Field, allowing three runs while striking out none to earn his sixth win, extending the Mets five game win streak. In his next start he took a loss in Miami giving up five runs, it was the fourth time he allowed five or more runs in a game. He would not do that again until his final start of the season.

11 Strikeouts: After a no decision in the subway series win, Manea pitched a seven-inning
combined shut out over the Twins at Citi Field. He gave up just two hits & struck out a season high 11 batters. Ryne Stanek & Edwin Diaz helped close it out.

From August 5th to September 21st, Manaea won five of six decisions, as the Mets battled for a wild card spot in a tight race. On August 5th, he shut out the Cardinals in St. Louis for six innings, striking out ten for his second straight game of double-digit Ks.

On August 10th, he took a loss to the Mariners as the Mets were swept in Seattle. In his next start he beat the Marlins at Citi Field to reach nine wins. 

On August 21st at Citi Field, Manaea took a perfect game into the 6th inning against the Baltimore Orioles. With two outs he hit Jackson Holiday with a pitch them gave up a two run HR to Austin Slater. The Mets eventually won the game with a walk off HR from Jesse Winker.

On August 27th in Arizona, Manea gave up three runs for the fourth straight game, as he pitched into the 7th inning while matching his season high 11 strike outs. He earned his tenth win of the year, reaching double digits in wins for the fourth time in his career & the first time since 2021. 

The Mets took two of three in Arizona, as both teams were fighting for a wild card spot in this important road series.

On September 1st in Chicago, Manaea shut out the White Sox on two hits through seven innings, striking out five for his eleventh win. After a no decision in Cincinnati where he gave up four runs, he allowed just one run pitching into the 7th inning in his next two starts at Toronto & at home to the Nationals but took no decisions in each game.

On September 21st, he beat the Phillies in a big game of a big series at Citi Field. Manaea gave up
three runs earning the win over Ranger Suarez & Orion Kerkering. Francisco Alvarez & Brandon Nimmo drove in three runs in the bottom of the 7th leading to the victory. 

The win matched a career best 12 wins, for the third time in his career. The Mets had now won in each of Manea's last eight starts.

On the season, Manea led the staff in wins (12) & strike outs (184). He was 12-6 with a 3.47 ERA, walking 63 batters in 181.2 innings, while making 32 starts.

2024 Post Season- NLWC: In the NLWC victory over the Brewers in Milwaukee, Manaea got the Game #2 start. He gave up a 1st inning HR to Jackson Chourio & a 5th inning run exiting the game with a 3-2 lead. He took no decision in the eventual Mets loss.

2024- NLDS: In the NLDS win over the Phillies, Manaea got the Game #3 start in New York with
the series tied at one game each. Manaea went seven innings, allowing just one run keeping the Phillies bats down with just three hits. He struck out six & walked just two, earning his first career post season win.

When exiting the game, he cheered & blew a kiss to the sky which he later said was directed at his Aunt Mable who had passed away earlier that morning.

2024-NLCS: In the NLCS series loss to the Dodgers Manaea got to make two starts. In Game #2 at Dodger Stadium, he was the games winning pitcher to get to 2-0 in the post season. Manaea went into the 5th inning with a 6-0 lead, then gave up a HR to Matt Muncy. 

In the 6th, a pair of walks & an error by Jose Iglesias led to two Dodger runs upon his exit. Manaea allowed three runs (two earned) on two hits & four walks. He struck out a personal career post season high seven batters as well.

In Game #6 he had reached his limit, making the most career starts & innings of his career, he was not effective. In two innings he gave up five runs, including a two run HR to Tommy Edman. 

Manaea gave up six hits with a pair of strike outs & a pair of walks. He was the losing pitcher of record as the Dodgers clinched the pennant ending the Mets season.

In December 2024 he reached a three-year $75 million deal to return to the Mets.

Career Stats: In his nine-year career, Manaea is 77-62 with a 4.00 ERA. He has three shut outs, 1109 strike outs & 335 walks in 1184.1 innings. 

Named Gloves: Sean has names for each of the different baseball gloves he uses. He also names his cars & bike's.

Family: Sean is engaged to Talat Mirmalek, a former San Francisco Fire Department Paramedic.

He also has a brother in the US Navy. He also had a half-brother who passed away from cancer at age 59.