Mets starter Sean Manaea made a well-documented change to his delivery during the 2024 season, putting his own spin on Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale’s cross-body delivery. The results were overwhelmingly successful, as Manaea pitched like a top-of-the-rotation starter down the stretch and into the playoffs.
On Saturday, Manaea had the chance to pick the brain of another iconic left-hander, and this time it was a player who has a special piece of Mets history.
Johan Santana, who threw the first no-hitter in Mets history in 2012, was a guest instructor for the Mets in Port St. Lucie on Saturday, and manager Carlos Mendoza made a point to introduce the pair after finding out via a Mets social media post that Santana was Manaea’s favorite player growing up.
“I knew Johan was coming, and I didn’t want to say anything to Sean,” Mendoza said. “Yesterday when he first got here, I pulled Johan aside and said ‘Let’s meet Sean.’ It was a pretty cool moment.”
Manaea told reporters on Sunday that he was “star-struck” as Santana came over to speak with him.
“Our family wasn’t really big into baseball, and I think he may have been the first lefty pitcher that I saw, and the changeup, I was trying to emulate him all the time,” Manaea said.
Acquired by the Mets in a February 2008 trade with the Minnesota Twins, Santana was excellent during his four seasons in Queens, pitching to a 3.18 ERA overall and a 2.53 ERA in 2008, when he finished third in NL Cy Young voting.
Santana, of course, was known for his devastating changeup, and he gave Manaea some tips on the pitch on Saturday.
“He makes me feel very old,” Santana said on Sunday. “It was good, I met him yesterday when I got here, and his reaction was ‘Oh wow,’ and then he told me I was his favorite player. I told him it was an honor. It’s pretty cool, great kid. He was asking me questions about my changeup, how I throw it, what do I do, the whole process. We shared some thoughts and it’s good. He’s got great stuff and he’s going to be a big part of this team, so whatever it takes to get him better and to help all the way through, because this team is built up to win.”
“Maybe I’ll have a good changeup this year,” Manaea said with a laugh. “It was really just changeup grips and kind of his mentality on the mound, that bulldog mentality that we’re always talking about…. It’s cool when you have the greats like that handing out knowledge like that.”
Manaea said he will throw a live batting practice session on Monday, and he assumes he’ll take the mound in Grapefruit League action after that. The lefty said that he’s “feeling good” as he heads into his first year of a new three-year contract with the Mets, and perhaps picking Santana’s brain will help him improve upon last year’s 3.47 ERA, the best of his career (excluding 2019, when he pitched just five games).
“Any time you can get a player with his experience and knowledge, not only for Sean but for everyone here in camp, that’s the reason why not only us but a lot of teams are doing it, bring in some guys like that and spend some time around players and coaches,” Mendoza said.
“It goes a long way, having a conversation, having interactions, and we saw it yesterday when Johan was talking to Sean about the changeup… That’s what we want out of these guest coaches here.”
