The Mets are going to be without their ace for a lot longer than initially expected.
Sean Manaea, who had recently resumed throwing and was working toward a return from an oblique injury, has been shut down.
"He experienced some discomfort a couple of days ago while he was starting to ramp up," manager Carlos Mendoza said on Tuesday. "We took an MRI of it again and it showed inflammation. So he got a PRP injection yesterday. So he's not throwing for two weeks now."
Because of the two-week no-throw, Manaea -- who had been expected to return around the end of April -- will likely not be back until toward the end of May or a bit later due to this setback.
Before this update, the latest news on Manaea came from president of baseball operations David Stearns, who said last Wednesday that Manaea's rehab was moving at a "really good clip."
In addition to Manaea, the Mets are without Frankie Montas, whose return could come in late May or early June.
Without two expected members of their starting staff, the Mets have abandoned their plan for a six-man rotation and are counting on two of their depth pitchers as regular rotation contributors in addition to the top three of Clay Holmes, David Peterson, and Kodai Senga.
Those depth starters are Tylor Megill and Griffin Canning, who each turned in a strong first regular season start.
Paul Blackburn, who was in the rotation competition during spring training and had been ticketed for the bullpen before getting hurt, is on the IL due to a knee issue.
The Mets don't currently have another legitimate starting pitching option on the 40-man roster.
Two possible rotation arms who could debut later this season are Brandon Sproat and Blade Tidwell, who are with Triple-A Syracuse. Sproat struggled in his season debut, while Tidwell excelled.
While one or both pitchers could help in the bigs at some point in 2025, it's hard to envision either of them being called up in the immediate future.
