Mets’ Sean Manaea not ‘the same pitcher’ who had playoff nightmare against Phillies

Here is what happened the last time Sean Manaea faced the Phillies in the postseason:

In Manaea’s first frame, Nick Castellanos hit a leadoff double and came around to score on a Bryson Stott single.

In Manaea’s next frame, Kyle Schwarber walked with one out before Rhys Hoskins homered, J.T. Reamulto walked and Bryce Harper doubled in a run.

Manaea, pitching in relief with the Padres, was yanked and charged with five runs on four hits with two walks in just 1 ¹/₃ innings.

The Phillies won the game — Game 4 of the NLCS in 2022, with Manaea the losing pitcher — and dispatched the Padres in five to reach the World Series.

“It’s a thing of the past,” Manaea, now the Mets ace, said before facing off with the Phillies once again for Game 3 of the NLDS at Citi Field. “It obviously wasn’t a very good outing for myself.

“The thing about it — I’m not the same pitcher I was then. They’re not the same they were then as well.”

In a season which Manaea said has been his proudest, plenty has changed, and Tuesday will be another opportunity to show he is a different pitcher.

This year the Mets lefty matched a career high with 32 starts; set a career best with a 3.47 ERA as a qualified starter; and probably went on the best run of his career over the final two months of the season, leading baseball in innings from July 30 through the end of the year and posting a 2.63 ERA in 11 starts from July 30 to Sept. 21.

A pitcher who enjoys challenging himself changed once more: He began throwing from a lower arm slot, found more consistency and found more awkward swings.

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This isn’t the first time Manaea has reinvented himself.

After his disappointing 2022 season (and the disappointing end against the Phillies), he sought out offseason help at pitching factory Driveline, upping his average four-seam fastball velocity from 91.3 mph in ’22 to 93.6 mph in 2023.

Yet, he still ran into troubles at the onset of ’23, so he developed a sweeper midseason and returned to the Giants rotation by the end of that year looking dominant, which made the Mets believers.

The story of Manaea’s career — and his facial appearance, a person who had grown out an unruly mane and heavy beard before abruptly going clean-shaven during spring training — has concerned transformations.

Throwing harder than he used to, with a deeper pitch mix and a different angle, helped him accumulate 184 strikeouts in 181 ²/₃ innings, which are short of his 200 and 200 goals, but solid enough.

“It’s definitely my proudest season I’ve ever had, just from a health standpoint, everything I was able to accomplish,” Manaea said. “It’s been a very fun season for me personally.”

It would be more fun for him if he finds redemption against a powerful offense that sent him into the offseason looking for answers two years ago — and finds the Mets a Game 3 victory.