LOS ANGELES — Welcome to the latest stop of the Sean Manaea redemption tour.
The lefty entered these playoffs with a 15.26 ERA in three postseason games.
In his first outing this October, he held the Brewers to two runs in five innings and brushed off any concerns that he is not built for the big games.
Manaea entered his second start this October against the Phillies, the same club that had bludgeoned him for five runs in 1 ¹/₃ innings in the 2022 NLCS, which sent a reeling Manaea off to pitching factory Driveline to figure out what had gone wrong.
Manaea then limited the Phillies to one run in seven-plus innings to win Game 3 of the NLDS.
The latest stop toward what he hopes is full vindication comes against the Dodgers, a team that has thoroughly owned him in his career.
Manaea spent the two previous years in the NL West, with the Padres and Giants, seeing the Dodgers often and enjoying seeing them rarely, posting a 7.09 ERA in 11 career games against Los Angeles.
One more chapter Manaea aspires to rewrite.
“Some teams have had my number over the years,” said Manaea, who will get the ball for Game 2 of the NLCS. “And I feel like I’ve had to — the baseball gods have given me the opportunities to go out there and prove again and again, just to be able to go out there and find some good results.
“And this team is no different.”
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In other ways, this team is different. Mookie Betts owns a career 1.153 OPS with three home runs in 32 at-bats against Manaea. Despite the lefty-lefty matchup, Freddie Freeman has hit him well (.839 OPS). Shohei Ohtani has faced him nine times and reached base four times. Will Smith is 9-for-18 against Manaea.
Of course, Manaea can argue, convincingly, that those numbers were accumulated against a different pitcher. He is throwing harder than, say, the 2022 version. He has added a sweeper that the early-2023 Manaea did not throw. And this year he changed arm angle midseason, leading to a dominant 10-start stretch from late July to mid-September in which he averaged 6.5 innings per start while pitching to 2.49 ERA.
“Obviously I’ve dropped down,” Manaea said about the difference between him now and when he faced the Dodgers in April. “And mechanical stuff was different, pitches are pretty much the same.
“Overall just a little more confident in myself, in my stuff.”
As Manaea has found himself, the Mets have found their ace. When he takes the mound Monday, he will have one more chance to show he is not the pitcher he used to be.
“Obviously they’re a very talented team, and I faced them multiple times throughout my career,” Manaea said before the series started at Dodger Stadium on Sunday. “Had some good ones and definitely a lot of bad ones.
“Just trying to do my best to go out there and just give the boys a chance to win.”
