Sean Manaea Looks to Build off Final Ten Starts of 2014

Even before throwing a pitch in the Kansas City Royals minor league system, Sean Manaea was considered to be among the Royals top prospects. The 34th overall selection in the 2013 MLB Amateur Draft, Manaea was ranked as the 78th best prospect in baseball by Baseball Prospectus heading into the 2014 season. As someone who is expected to be that next wave of excellent young starters for the Royals, it was interesting to see how well he would fare.

Pitching for the Wilmington Blue Rocks, Manaea had a solid season, posting a 7-8 record with a 3.11 ERA and a 1.282 WHiP. Manaea struggled with his control, walking 54 batters in 121.1 innings of work, but he also mitigated that, at least to a degree, by striking out 146 hitters.

At first glance, Sean Manaea’s debut in professional ball would seem to be, at least to a degree, moderately disappointing. The strikeout total was nice, but Manaea did not really dominate. Perhaps the Royals started him a bit too high up the minor league chain, throwing him into the fire before he was really ready for full season minor league ball.

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Yet, when looking at Manaea’s 2014 season, he was victimized by a bit of bad luck. Manaea gave up a .321 batting average on balls in play against, somewhat higher than the league average of .309. Considering that Manaea only allowed opponents to hit at a .228/.315/.308 rate, improved control and a BABiP against closer to the league average could put his numbers closer to his 2.81 FIP.

Those overall numbers also ignore an excellent end to Sean Manaea’s season. Over his final ten games, he posted a 5-1 record with a 1.48 ERA, striking out 67 batters while issuing only 24 walks in 61 innings. Perhaps the struggles early on were just a matter of Manaea needing to get comfortable at that level.

In those final ten games, Manaea gave a glimpse into the type of pitcher the Royals envisioned when they plucked him with the 34th pick. A lefty who is considered to have three solid pitches, including a fastball that can hit 98 MPH, Manaea may not be the same type of top of the rotation talent that Yordano Ventura or Danny Duffy are expected to become, but he could be a solid second or third starter.

Sean Manaea will likely start the 2015 season in Northwest Arkansas, with an eye towards seeing some time in the majors as a September callup in 2016. However, if Manaea can refine his control, that path to the majors could accelerate.

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