Carlos Mendoza insisted he’s not worried even after Sean Manaea walked four batters in two consecutive games.
But Manaea used harsher terms to describe what is at least a worrying trend.
He said the walk was “unacceptable.”
Manaea entered Tuesday with a 13.1 walk rate (his career high) and added four more in the first three frames.
He doesn’t know what’s going on, why he’s getting walks, why he’s throwing fewer than 60 percent of his pitches for strikes in his sixth start.
There were times when Manaea zoomed out of the lineup and limited runners.
In the Mets-Cubs game at Citi Field, he had three hits, one RBI, and three strikeouts in five innings, but otherwise performed well.
However, walks sometimes tarnish his record, which is frustrating for the left-hander.
“It works in bullpens and low leverage situations,” Manaea said. “But I have to figure that part out because as soon as someone steps in there, they revert back to some of my old ways.”
Manaea struggled with command in the opening frame.
Manaea induced a double play to avoid a walk to the second batter, but with one out and the bases loaded in the second inning, Manaea walked two batters and allowed a single.
Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya then hit a sacrifice fly for an RBI.
And because of that, Manaea’s pitch count continued to rise, with 41 pitches through two frames.
“My pitches feel great, I just don’t pitch enough for strikes,” Manaea said. “From there, I start getting into a lot of trouble. Thankfully, I haven’t had too many big innings yet, but it’s just asking for innings like that.”
Manaea was signed this offseason to be a key part of the Mets (15-14) rotation, and he said his goal is to “get innings and get deep into the game.”
That became even more important when Kodai Senga started the season on the disabled list. The walks aren’t as concerning as Adrian Houser’s 8.37 ERA, but they illustrate exactly why the Mets’ bullpen is so important.
Eight consecutive starts for Jose Quintana and Luis Severino gave Mendoza an option behind Manaea, even though Edwin Díaz was unavailable due to back-to-back appearances.
Sean Reid-Foley, Reid Garrett, Adam Ottavino and Jorge Lopez could be used to secure the Mets’ first win in the series.
But even if Manaea found a way around most traffic jams unscathed, it couldn’t hide recent signs that the walk was starting to become a problem for Manaea.
“It’s no secret that he’s fighting to find control on his pitches. Every pitch,” Mendoza said. “But he kept pitching.”
