A's Sean Manaea exits after two innings with 'shoulder tightness' in LA

Sean Manaea has been one of the few bright spots for the Oakland A’s so far this year.

In four starts, the 25-year-old has struck out 26 batters over 22.1 innings with just 12 walks. He’s got a WHIP of 1.12 which more than makes up for an ERA of 4.43. And he’s got a fastball that sits at 91 mph easy.

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Which is why baseball fans — especially those in Oakland — are feeling uneasy after Manaea’s outing on Wednesday against the Los Angeles Angels. Specifically the part where he was pulled after two frames.

Manaea gave up three runs on four hits with one strikeout in two innings. He needed 34 pitches to record six outs. Most troubling, as noted in Susan Slusser’s tweet, is the drop in velocity.

There’s certainly no good in speculating what happened on the mound in Anaheim. The only thing we can say for sure is Manaea’s performance is the opposite of what fans have come to expect from him.

It was hardly two weeks ago that the A’s starter took a no-hitter into the fifth inning against the Houston Astros. That night Manaea threw 98 pitches which remains his season-high.

Oakland entered Wednesday at 10-10 and 3.5 games back of the Astros for first place in the American League. That’s not to say that it’s worth scoreboard watching in April, however the AL West figures to be extremely competitive this year.

Losing one of the best pitchers on your staff is not something the A’s want to try withstanding this early in the season.

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Blake Schuster is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at blakeschuster@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Schustee