Pitcher List Conversations are transcripts of interviews with professional baseball players — and sometimes, players discuss topics other than baseball. This has been lightly edited for clarity.
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When the New York Mets arrived at Coors Field on August 6, 2024, for a three-game series with the Colorado Rockies, Sean Manaea was coming off a terrific outing against the St. Louis Cardinals the previous day when he threw seven scoreless innings that included 10 Ks. He also lowered his ERA to 3.30, which is ninth in the National League.
In addition to the numbers, Manaea’s previous success was evidenced by a Mets-themed WWE belt hanging in his locker. The mood was decidedly positive in the Mets clubhouse.
That’s the environment in which I spoke to him when he discussed his sweeper, his favorite pitch of 2024, and his recent decision to change his hair.
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Renee Dechert: Over your career, you’ve been fairly sinker heavy, but in 2022 and 2023, you relied more on your fastball. This year, you’re back with the sinker. What prompted you to make these changes?
Sean Manaea: I feel like it correlates to my velo.
So early in my career, I was throwing hard. And then I kind of lost velo there for a little bit, had a little shoulder thing. But my four-seam was good when I was throwing hard, and then I started losing velo, so then, I was like, Alright, I’m just gonna start sinking the ball.
And then another thing was just based off the feel. My four-seam felt good my hand at times, and then I would start to lose feel for it. Then I would have to go to my two-seam, and that just felt really good for a while.
Now we’re back on all four seams, so it was just kind of ebbs and flows over my career.
RD: One of the things Merrill Kelly told me one time is that grips and pitches kind of leave him, and they come back. Has that been your experience?
SM: Yeah, I would definitely say that’s definitely the case.
On my slider, I felt like I had a really good one in 2015 when I was in Double-A, and then next year, I was in the big leagues, and I just didn’t have the same feel for it, and I didn’t have any confidence in it. So then it was just kind of figuring it out as I went.
Same thing with my changeup. It felt really good early in my career, and then I started to lose feel for it.
I think the life of a pitcher is just constant tinkering and trying to make sure everything feels good.
RD: Do you like that variation, or do you wish it would be a little more consistent?
SM: [Laughs] You know, I wish it was a little more consistent. Maybe that’s the case going forward? Or maybe not. But all I know is that I’ve had to change things over my career, and I’m glad I’ve been able to adapt to that and been able to change and not just stick with one thing and just not feel good about what I’m doing.
RD: it looks like you’re using your sweeper more. Can you talk a little bit about your relationship to that pitch and what it brings to your arsenal?
SM: Last year, I learned it for the first time just watching a Trevor Bauer video and how he threw it, and I was like, wow, it’s pretty interesting. So I started to throw that, and it was it was good.
Same thing, with the sweeper. It feels good my hand for a little bit, and then I sort of lose feel for it. I’m like, “Where’s this thing going?” Sometimes it breaks way too much. Other times it doesn’t break barely at all. And so it’s a very inconsistent pitch for me.
You know, metrically it looks good on paper sometimes, and other times, it’s just like, “What was that?”
I kind of went to a different grip the last few outings, and this one is more consistent in my hand where it’s kind of like my fastball. So I can just grip it and then trust that it’s going to go right.
It may not be as big as my older sweeper, but it’s just a lot more consistent for throwing strikes. I’ve just got to learn how to visually throw it backfoot to somebody or something like that.
RD: What’s your favorite pitch you’ve thrown this season?
SM: I’m a big fan of fastballs.
RD: Poor choice of words on my part. Pick a specific pitch that you threw.
SM: I would probably say . . . I mean, yesterday I had a fastball to Willson Contreras—the strikeout to him with guys on first and second. That was a huge point in the game. I had just thrown a fastball, really high the pitch before, and then this one, I had to reel it in and throw it closer to the zone. So he had to honor that. He swung through it, and that was a very satisfying sequence right there.
Off the top of my head, I’d say that one.
RD: It’s always really interesting to me, the different pitches pitchers say are their favorite. You’re the first one to go with something really recent.
SM: Yeah, I think just based off of how I felt the last couple of outings, we’re in a good spot, so like that one feels the best so far this year.
RD: If you could steal a pitch from any other pitcher, what would you take and why?
SM: Probably Kodai Senga’s “ghost fork” because that thing is crazy.
I don’t know how it’d be left-handed or from my slot. It probably wouldn’t do nearly half of what it’s doing with him.
But just watching him pitch for the first time in person was a really special thing to see, and seeing how he commanded it and everything, it was, it was really incredible to see.
RD: So you’ve got a new look? What prompted the change?
Sean Manaea just cut his hair for the first time in four years 😳
(via @SNYtv) pic.twitter.com/0nFuQTrCvc
— MLB (@MLB) March 4, 2024
SM: My hair?
RD: Yes.
SM: You know, it started becoming its own thing. And I just kind of wanted to be—I don’t know—a little more mature this year, I guess.
So, we just kind of just went for it. And I tend to do that in general anyways, but I’ve never grown my hair out for four years before, so . . . .
But I mean, I’ve shaved my head. I’ve dyed it. I’ve done pretty much everything I can think of. But, yeah, I just wanted to change things up and start fresh.
RD: Last one. If you’ve got a night out in New York, are you going to go with Mr. Met, Mrs. Met, or Grimace?
SM: [He takes a few seconds to ponder.] Probably I’m going to go with Mr. Met because I feel like he’s been around for the longest, I would I would assume, and he probably knows all the cool spots to hang out.