Aaron Nola Sean manaea

NLDS: Breaking down Aaron Nola vs Sean Manaea in pivotal Game 3 matchup

The Philadelphia Phillies are in Queens, New York tonight for a pivotal Game 3 matchup against the New York Mets in the NLDS. Aaron Nola will take the bump for The Fightins. The Mets will counter with LHP Sean Manaea.

I have been talking about the Mets pitching staff for weeks at this point. The New York Mets lack major depth in the pitching department and should be a nice confidence booster for the Phillies after the finally came alive in the second-half of Sunday’s thrilling 7-6 win at Citizens Bank Park.

The series is knotted up at 1-1 and the next two games are in Queens. Tonight is the perfect opportunity for the Phillies to bounce back and use their pitching depth to their advantage.

All Things Philadelphia Phillies Postseason Here >>

Sean Manaea is not a good baseball pitcher

To be as direct as possible, I wholeheartedly believe that Sean Manaea is not a good baseball pitcher. I don’t care how you want to say it but the 12-6 record with a 3.47 ERA over 32 starts (181.2 IP) with 184 strikeouts and a 1.08 WHIP doesn’t do much for me. 

Manaea pitched against the Phillies on September 21. He allowed three earned runs in seven innings pitched. Earlier in the regular season, he only lasted 3.2 innings and allowed six earned runs against the Phillies. 

The Phillies have seen Manaea in the postseason when he was with the San Diego Padres back in 2022. He posted a miserable 1.1 innings pitched, allowing four hits, five earned runs, two walks, and two strikeouts. 

“But Drew! Sean Manaea is a different pitcher!”

Don’t get me wrong, I am well aware that Sean Manaea is a “different pitcher” these days after he went to a “velocity school” blah blah blah blah. I literally do not care. This Phillies lineup should feast on him – even more so because he’s a lefty.

Phillies Lineup vs LHP (Regular Season)  

  • Kyle Schwarber had a .300 batting average with 12 home runs and 38 RBIs in 248 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers this season.
  • Trea Turner had a .303 batting average with 8 home runs and 20 RBIs in 168 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers this season.
  • Bryce Harper hit .301 with 9 homers and 31 RBIs in 226 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers this season.
  • Nick Castellanos had a .269 batting average with 10 home runs and 34 RBIs in 170 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers this season.
  • JT Realmuto hit .286 with 4 home runs and 14 RBIs in 122 plate appearances against left-handed pitchers this season.

Aaron Nola, For All Things Holy

Opposing Sean Manaea will be none other than Aaron Nola – who has a strong track record of pitching well in NLDS Game 3’s. 

  • 2023: Phillies 10. Braves 2 – 5.2 IP | 6 H | 2 R | 2 ER | 1 BB | 9 K
  • 2022: Phillies 9. Braves 1 – 6.0 IP | 5 H | 1 R | 0 ER | 2 BB | 6 K

All Things Philadelphia Phillies Postseason Here >>

Since 2022, Zack Wheeler and Aaron Nola have been the Phillies’ playoff rotation anchors, with Nola regularly handling Game 2 duties. Four times he’s been in that spot, and the Phillies have come out on top three of those games. It’s a formula that’s worked well for the team—unless circumstances force a change. 

Rob Thomson opted to roll with Cristopher Sánchez for Game 2 at Citizens Bank Park, banking on Sánchez’s better home stats. That bumped Nola back to Game 3—an unusual move for the veteran, but not without some logic behind it.

Nola’s been lights-out at Citi Field before. Just this past May, he silenced the Mets with a complete-game shutout, flirting with perfection into the sixth inning.

And a couple of seasons ago, he struck out 10 straight Mets batters, nearly rewriting the record books. So while Game 3 might not be his usual spot, facing the Mets on their home turf is something Nola’s pretty comfortable with.

Whatever Nola does tonight, he needs to make sure to limit the damage and for the love of god, keep Pete Alonso from doing anything relevant. These two go way back to Nola’s LSU days and Alonso at Florida. Nola had the upper hand in those college matchups, but in the majors, Alonso has the upper hand. In over 50 at-bats, Alonso’s hit .320 off Nola with five bombs and 11 RBIs.

Nola’s been prepping for this start for nine days. The extra rest is definitely a concern but at the same time, I’m comfortable with it given his experience.

Nola knows what he’s walking into. The energy at Citi Field will be intense, the pressure’s on, but he’s been here before. Having that experience is what sets him apart—and the Phillies are banking on that as they aim to take control of the series.

Phillies Lineup vs Sean Manaea 

  • Kyle Schwarber is 2-6 with a homer and 2 RBIs in 7 plate appearances against Sean Manaea in his career.
  • Trea Turner is 5-16 with a homer and 2 RBIs in 16 plate appearances against Sean Manaea in his career.
  • Bryce Harper is 3-10 with a homer and an RBI in 10 plate appearances against Sean Manaea in his career.
  • Nick Castellanos is 5-15 with 3 home runs and 4 RBIs in 15 plate appearances against Sean Manaea in his career.
  • JT Realmuto is 1-7 in 7 plate appearances against Sean Manaea in his career.
  • Alec Bohm is 2-9 with a home run and 2 RBIs in 10 plate appearances against Sean Manaea in his career.
  • Bryson Stott is 2-6 with a home run and an RBI in 8 plate appearances against Sean Manaea in his career.
  • Austin Hays is 2-3 with a home run and an RBI in 3 plate appearances against Sean Manaea in his career.

All Things Philadelphia Phillies Postseason Here >>

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