New York Mets star pitcher Sean Manaea had the privilege to pick the brain of one of the franchise’s best hurlers ever.
Mets: Sean Manaea picked up pointers on changeup from Johan Santana
Former Mets ace Johan Santana was a guest instructor at New York’s Spring Training in Port St. Lucie on Saturday, as SNY’s Alex Smith reported (via Yahoo Sports). Both talents had this to say about the mentorship experience they exchanged:
“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.”
Manaea then touched on what he was able to harness from Santana’s pointers, saying:
“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 could make changeup pillar of his arsenal in 2025
Though the Indiana native was heavily reliant on his fastball (30.1 percent) and sinker (25.9 percent), which accounted for 56 percent of his repertoire last season, he could make his changeup a more prominent part of his go-to pitches. Manaea’s changeup has been on a downward trend in usage over the last two campaigns, and his 11.8 rate from 2024 was a career-low.
Manaea threw that pitch at an 85.3 mph velocity last time out. He also allowed opponents to hit .250 at the plate against it. The 33-year-old’s 25.4 percent whiff rate with his changeup was solid.
That being said, Santana, who was a game-changing hurler throughout his MLB career and with the Mets, may have given him the keys to turn things up a notch with that pitch moving forward.