Those who follow the Toronto Blue Jays know just how ugly things have gotten for Alek Manoah as of late.
Heading into last season, the now 26-year-old was viewed as one of the best pitchers in baseball and was only continuing to improve. However, things have changed in a big way since.
Manoah had serious struggles last season, and they have continued into 2024. Recently, he was torched in a Single-A game, giving up six earned runs in just 1.2 innings. He jumped to Triple-A Buffalo immediately afterward as he tried to work his way back from a shoulder injury, and while his first start there went a bit better, it was far from good, as he allowed eight hits in 3.1 innings.
Yesterday saw Manoah make his second Triple-A start of the season, and while things went quite well, an absolutely hilarious clip from early in the game quickly went viral. If this doesn’t sum up the past year for Manoah, we don’t know what does.
Alek Manoah pitched today.pic.twitter.com/88TQp1lsh8
— Codify (@CodifyBaseball) April 20, 2024
After taking a moment to catch his breath, Manoah was fine and able to continue pitching.
Early on, it appeared this would be yet another ugly start. After getting two quick outs in the first inning, he gave up a single, a two-run home run, and a double before finally escaping the first. That turned out to be all the damage, however, as he wound up allowing just those two runs in 5.2 innings, while also allowing only three more hits. Perhaps most encouraging was that he didn’t allow any free basses and didn’t hit a single batter.
All in all, yesterday’s start was the most encouraging performance we have seen from Manoah in some time. Perhaps this is the start of an incredible comeback story for the big right-hander. As impressive as the Blue Jays rotation already looks, getting him back at the level he was playing in 2022 would make their pitching staff a true juggernaut.
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