Mets Sean Manaea finally seeing results after season-long struggles

MIAMI — Sean Manaea is feeling as if much of his mojo has returned.“I feel like I am going out there and attacking guys, not really falling behind on counts, not walking guys — that is the biggest thing,” the Mets left-hander said Saturday before the Mets’ 4-1 loss to the Marlins.“The velocity is up, and that is a plus.

So I feel like I have a lot of quality weapons attacking guys.” Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets.A night earlier, Manaea had a third straight solid relief appearance, allowing one earned run on four hits over 3 ²/₃ innings in the Mets’ 2-1 loss.Maybe the worst is behind him.

After an ugly April and beginning to May, he’s pitched to a 3.12 ERA with eight strikeouts over his past three appearances, spanning 8 ²/₃ innings.Overall, he owns a 5.81 ERA in 11 appearances this season.In his latest outing, Manaea averaged 91.2 mph with his sinker.

For the season he was averaging only 89.6 with that pitch.Manaea credited the work he’s been putting in with assistant pitching coach Dan McKinney for paying dividends.“He’s had some ideas on drills and mechanics and stuff we have kind of been implementing,” Manaea said.

“But I also think that having more reps, feeling good in my body physically and ultimately more [work] have put me in a good place.”Manaea was squeezed from the rotation near the end of spring training, with the possibility he would be utilized as a sixth starter.But after struggling early, he was essentially relegated to mop up relief.His appearance in the second inning Friday, behind opener Tobias Myers, was among just a few higher-leverage opportunities this season.“If it’s helping the team win, that is what I am here to do,” Manaea said.

“It was a higher-leverage situation than being in a game down six [runs] or something.”The Mets could use the continued contributions from Manaea, who isn’t...