The Toronto Blue Jays Have Once Again Demoted Alek Manoah

This story keeps getting weirder. I’ve written blogs before about how I think the Toronto Blue Jays are one of the most frustrating teams in recent memory. I know they’re really good. And I know that they can be great. But they tend to fuck up in some big moments (usually when I bet on them.) There’s no greater example of the topsy-turvy vibe that the Toronto Blue Jays give off than Alek Manoah. The guy was electric last year, finishing third for the American League Cy Young. This year, through the first two months, he was having a historically bad season, ultimately resulting in Toronto sending him down to rookie ball. After just a few starts, he returned to the major leagues. I don’t think the stuff looked any better, but the results were slightly better. They were better mainly because they couldn’t have been any worse. But I figured the Blue Jays would probably ride with him for the remainder of the season. I was proven wrong. 

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I wrote a blog a while back about how I was genuinely surprised that the Blue Jays called up Manoah as quickly as they did. He was so bad in the early part of the season that a part of me wondered if the best course of action would’ve been keeping him down in the minor leagues until next season. People justifiably ran with the idea that he struggled to adjust to the pitch clock. I buy that criticism completely. I think it’s had a significant impact on him physically, but I think psychologically, it hurt him even more. This is a guy that loved to control the pace of play. Now the pace of play controls him. He hasn’t been able to deal with it. Do I still think Alek Manoah has a future in Major League Baseball? Absolutely. But he must earn his way back and start from square one. 

The great mystery here is what happens with Manoah for the rest of the season. As inconsistent as they can be, the Toronto Blue Jays are a remarkably talented bunch currently in a position to make it to the playoffs. When the rosters expand in September, will Manoah be back on the roster? If he is back on the roster, will Toronto trust him to give them big innings down the stretch? These are all questions that will be answered soon. I still think Manoah can get back to where he was as a starter, but I don’t think his issues are something that can be fixed with a few more AAA stints. The idea of the Toronto Blue Jays making a push through the playoffs in 2023 without Alek Manoah would’ve felt like an impossibility coming into the season, but that may have to be the course of action in the future. I don’t know if he can be trusted even if he returns.