Fantasy Baseball 2018: Sean Manaea is ready for a rebound
By Bill Pivetz
Athletics pitcher Sean Manaea saw some regression this season. But with two full years under his belt, he should be ready to bounce back in a big way.
The Oakland Athletics had a pretty good offense with some power hitters in the heart of the order. The pitching staff, on the other hand, did not hold up their end of the bargain. Only one pitcher reached the 10-win plateau and that pitcher is Sean Manaea.
While his other stats regressed some, he did improve in other areas. With the skills he has, I think Manaea will bounce back in a big way and have a very successful 2018 season.
Manaea finished with a 12-10 record, 4.37 ERA, 1.399 WHIP and 4.10 FIP. His ERA was about 0.5 higher, WHIP was 0.2 higher and FIP 0.02 higher compared to his 2016 numbers. The fact that he was able to keep his FIP within decimal points of last year’s number shows that he is not giving up the long ball and keeping opposing hitters off the base paths.
More from Fantasy Baseball
- 5 fantasy baseball waiver wire pivots to replace Triston McKenzie
- Fantasy baseball mock draft 2023, 12-team: Aaron Judge over Trea Turner?
- 3 fantasy baseball sleepers being drafted too late
- NBA DFS picks December 25: Merry Bucking Christmas
- Fantasy Baseball: Hot pitchers worthy of starting this weekend
However, he did see a 0.2 increase in his strikeout rate and 0.2 decrease in his HR/9 rate. There were some other control issues, though, as he allowed 3.1 walks per nine, hit 10 batters and had eight wild pitches.
All in all, Manaea finished as the No. 77 starting pitcher on the Player Rater. He was the 55th starter drafted in ESPN leagues, 202.9 ADP. As a spot starter or back-end starter in AL-only leagues, Manaea was more than serviceable.
Manaea pitches in the American League West. Two teams finished in the top 11 and the other two finished in the bottom five in batting average. Two were Nos. 2 and 3 in home runs, one was No. 17 and the fourth was 24th.
With home runs up around the league, I would be a fool to project him for a sub-4.00 ERA. However, he has done a good job keeping batted balls on the ground. He had a 44.1 ground ball rate, 35.3 fly ball rate and a 10.6 HR/FB rate last season. That is good for 44th, 47th and eighth, respectively, among all pitchers with at least 150 innings pitched.
Next: Ian Happ is a 2018 breakout candidate
If Manaea can post a 4.15 ERA/1.33 WHIP/152 K line over a career-high 173 innings, fantasy owners would have to buy him as fantasy relevant. You should aim to draft him near Round 23/24 as your sixth or seventh starting pitcher.