Pitcher Alek Manoah to Start for Toronto Blue Jays vs Tigers

Alek Manoah, whose name has been on everyone’s lips since the start of the season for all the wrong reasons, is back in the Toronto Blue Jays’ lineup. He’ll be on the mound to face the Tigers in Detroit on Friday.

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Blue Jays’ Pitcher Alek Manoah Set to Return

Even by the average MLB starter’s standards, Manoah was having a poor campaign prior to being sent down to the minors. By the standards he himself set in 2021 and 2022, the first couple of months were unmitigated disasters.

In 2021 he was 9-2 with an ERA of 3.22 and 127 strikeouts in 20 games.

In 2022 he partook in 31 games, tallied a 16-7 win-loss record, bolstered by. A 2.24 ERA and 180 Ks.

In 2023…1-7 and a 6.36 ERA.

In June, Manoah was sent to the Florida Complex League and got roughed up in his first game, giving up 11 runs in less than three innings. On Sunday in Double-A he performed much better, striking out 10 batters on a wet night, throwing as fast as 94 m.p.h with good control.

Is one game really enough to justify bringing him back to face a major league club? Manger John Schneider shared his reasoning with the media this week:

“It was kind of what we were looking to see unfold in a competitive environment. Yeah, the results were great, but it was never really about the results, you know? It was about him just sticking to the process of what we laid out together with him involved in it.”

A lot of talk, including on Sports Interaction’s YouTube show Pitch Clock, has been about how the Blue Jays have managed with only four starting pitchers. Kevin Gausman (an All-Star selection), Chris Bassitt, Jose Berrios and Yusei Kikuchi have carried the load in the interim, mostly keeping the team’s head above water.

On Thursday the Blue Jays will play a double-header in Chicago against the White Sox before traveling to Detroit to start a weekend series versus the Tigers.