Manaea is expected to miss start of Mets season with oblique strain. Madrigal has fractured shoulder

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) - New York Mets starter Sean Manaea is expected to begin the season on the injured list because of a right oblique strain.

Manaea said Monday that had been dealing with the issue since getting to spring training.

"Didn’t really get worse, it just kind of plateaued," Manaea said. "The worst part is it just never got any better over the last couple of weeks."

The left-hander, the Mets’ top starter last season who then got a $75 million, three-year contract, said he had been throwing and pitching but that "recovery hasn’t really been the greatest in between." He had an MRI over the weekend.

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Manaea wouldn’t throw again until he was free of symptoms, and he indicated that could take two to three weeks.

"The good news is … the tendon is not involved, the rib cage is not involved. So it's just straight muscle," Mendoza said. "He’s going to be shut down for a couple of weeks. So, and then we reassess after that, and we've got to build him back up again. So, safe to say that he's probably going to start the season on the IL."

Mendoza also told reporters at camp on Monday that infielder Nick Madrigal fractured his left (non-throwing) shoulder when he got hurt in a spring training game the previous day.

The 27-year-old Madrigal, who is fighting for a roster spot, was playing shortstop Sunday when he charged a grounder up the middle and fired to first base before falling to the grass. An MRI revealed the extent of the injury, and he having more testing done Monday.

With Manaea now sidelined, the Mets are without two of their expected starters. Frankie Montas is out because of a strained back.

Montas, who signed a two-year, $34 million free-agent contract in December, was shut down last week for what the Mets said would be six to eight weeks. He is not expected back before May.

If all goes well for Manaea, he could be return in April.

That leaves the Mets with a projected rotation of Kodai Senga, David Peterson, former All-Star closer Clay Holmes, Paul Blackburn and Griffin Canning.

Manaea went 12-6 with a 3.47 ERA in 32 starts during his Mets debut last season.

His new, three-year contract came after he declined his player option for 2025, passing up the final $13.5 million of a $28 million, two-year deal he initially signed with the Mets. The 33-year-old was a free agent for the third consecutive offseason and had turned down a $21.05 million qualifying offer from the team.

Manaea struck out 184 batters and walked 63 in a career-high 181 2/3 innings last year. He lowered his arm slot in midseason to emulate another nasty left-hander, NL Cy Young Award winner Chris Sale of the Atlanta Braves, and became New York's most effective starter down the stretch, with a 6-2 record and 3.09 ERA in his final 12 regular-season games.

During the playoffs, Manaea went 2-1 with a 4.74 ERA and 19 strikeouts in four starts covering 19 innings as the Mets made a surprise run to the National League Championship Series.

A nine-year major league veteran, Manaea is 77-62 with a 4.00 ERA in 198 starts and 30 relief appearances with Oakland (2016-21), San Diego (2022), San Francisco (2023) and the Mets. He pitched a no-hitter for the A's against Boston in April 2018.