Manaea opened the regular season on the shelf recovering from a late-February right oblique strain. Newsday’s Tim Healey adds that Manaea is likely out until late May or early June in a best-case scenario following the setback. The 33-year-old southpaw had resumed a throwing program back in mid-March, but was apparently still having issues with his oblique. There should be a clearer timeline for his return once he resumes throwing again, but his season debut is likely going to be pushed back into June.

Manaea, who was injured in late February, should get into minor league games soon and rejoin the Mets rotation before the end of April.

Manaea has been sidelined with a strained oblique since the start of spring training, but his follow-up MRI was clean. This means the veteran is essentially starting his spring training now and might need about a month to ramp up to enough pitches to appear in an MLB game. With the regular season two weeks away, that would mean that Manaea will miss about 2-3 weeks of the season. That makes him an ideal late-round pick in leagues where you can put him on the IL for the start of the season.

The expectation is that Manaea will begin the season on the injured list. The 33-year-old was re-signed to a $75 million contract in November, and was expected to be a key cog in the New York rotation. This could open a spot for a player like Paul Blackburn or Griffin Canning to begin the season.