Manaea and Madrigal to start season on IL

Posted by: Patrick Gorman 02/26/2025

The most difficult job when it comes to spring training is keeping your players healthy. Monday we got some bad news as Sean Manaea will start the season on the IL with an Oblique Strain. Manaea, who became the ace of the 2024 season just signed a three-year deal with the Mets. Objectively the news is a big blow as they are expected to lose Frankie Montas for a significant amount of time with a lat injury, but manager Carlos Mendoza put some light on the news. Mendoza stated "it could take 7,14, 21 days to heal. Once he's symptom free he'll start his throwing again."

For an oblique injury this is the best case scenario if Manaea is only shut down to 1-3 weeks from throwing. If Manaea is symptom free in that time frame and starts throwing he will only miss at most a handful of starts. The depth is already going to be tested with Montas out, but now with Manaea missing time there has to be very little room for error. This also means that it opens up another spot for Tylor Megill, Paul Blackburn, and newly acquired Griffin Canning. They aren't the sexiest or flashy options, but they are all viable major league options that have the stuff to get MLB hitters out. It will for sure be interesting on how Mendoza and Stearns navigate this rotation to start the season.

From the offensive standpoint the Mets have also lost utility player Nick Madrigal due to a fractured left shoulder and have placed him on the 60-day IL. What this means is that it opens a roster spot for Brett Baty and Luis Angel Acuna. Brett Baty so far in spring training has an OPS of 1.714 and is hitting the ball with some authority. Luis Angel Acuna has some positional versatility and can play SS at the MLB level, but he needs to prove that the bat can play at the big league level.