A postgame television interview was wrapping up on the field when Sean Manaea noticed no one had grabbed a cooler.Uh-oh.The veteran pitcher recognized he had to act fast and sprang into action. Just as A.J. Ewing finished off his final answer, Manaea burst from the dugout, jug full of liquid in tow. Splash!Manaea could’ve ignored the scene and kept moving, but that’s not who Manaea is as a teammate.“It was the guy’s debut,” he said days afterward. “It was just the right thing to do.”Manaea cares. He matters so much to a New York Mets clubhouse full of rookies and first-time New Yorkers. And it’s because he cares so much that Manaea has reemerged as a relevant piece to the Mets’ hopes of a turnaround.There’s no better explanation for a 34-year-old regaining 4 mph on his fastball in three months and averaging 92 mph with the pitch in his most recent outing. While all the drills and meetings are necessary parts of his story, they mean nothing without Manaea wanting to change.On the day of Ewing’s memorable postgame dousing, Manaea owned a 6.56 ERA. During the three months before May 12, he was losing a battle against a radar gun that refused to show him consistently hitting 90 mph. He went from starring as the Mets’ top starter during their memorable stretch run in 2024 to working as one of baseball’s most expensive mop-up relievers.Just one of the 457 pitches he threw from the start of the regular season to the midpoint of May registered above 92 mph: a 92.7 mph four-seam fastball on May 10.In an outing against the New York Yankees on May 17, however, he threw 14 pitches clocked faster than 92 mph. That was the beginning of his uptick. Of his 253 pitches since May 17, 46 of them (18.2 percent) were thrown 92 mph or higher.In his last four outings, starting with the game against the Yankees, Manaea has a 2.87 ERA. Over 15 2/3 innings, he has struck out 16 batters and allowed 12 hits and five walks.Manaea, who has yet to start a game as a traditional starter this season, technically reentered the Mets’ rotation on Tuesday as a bulk pitcher. He held the Seattle Mariners to a solo home run over five innings. He is next scheduled to pitch against the San Diego Padres on Sunday.On Tuesday, his sinker and four-seam fastball averaged 91.9 mph and 91.8 mph, respectively, his highest readings since last season.Mets manager Carlos Mendoza congratulates Sean Manaea after his most recent outing. (Steph Chambers / Getty Images)“He understood you’re not just going to bump up 5 miles per hour in two outings,” Mets assistant pitching coach Dan McKinney said. “But it has been pretty impressive to see the progressive climb.”Among others, Mets manager Carlos Mendoza, pitching coach Justin Willard, senior performance scientist Joel Greenshields and McKinney have each held individual meetings with Manaea to help get the lefty right. In mid-April, Willard, McKinney and bullpen coach Jose Rosado sat with Manaea to set a concrete plan to fix Manaea’s issues.