Toronto Blue Jays Make Revelation Regarding Starting Pitcher Alek Manoah

According to general manager Ross Atkins, the Toronto Blue Jays are leaning towards Alek Manoah having the fifth spot in their starting rotation in 2024.
Toronto Blue Jays Make Revelation Regarding Starting Pitcher Alek Manoah
Toronto Blue Jays Make Revelation Regarding Starting Pitcher Alek Manoah

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According to general manager Ross Atkins, the Toronto Blue Jays are leaning towards Alek Manoah having the fifth spot in their rotation in 2024.

The team returns Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Yusei Kikuchi and Jose Berrios to the rotation and Manoah is first in line to claim the remaining spot.

Per an article from Kaitlyn McGrath of 'The Athletic.'

However, the 25-year-old right-hander will have a chance to be in the rotation next season and has earned “the right to have a strong leg up” in the fifth starter competition, Atkins said.

“I feel so good about him returning back to the 2021-22 version of himself,” the GM added.

Manoah, who started Game 1 of the playoffs for Toronto in 2022, went just 3-9 in a disastrous 2023 season for the Jays. He made 19 appearances and pitched to an ERA of 5.87.

He was sent to the organization's minor league complex at one point and then was sent to Triple-A at the end of the season, but never appeared in games there.

Still just 25 years old, Manoah has a chance to re-write the story of his career and get back to the productive pitcher he was in 2022.

If he can do that, it will be of great benefit to the Blue Jays, who were bounced in the wild card round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Twins. It would also give the Blue Jays one of the best rotations in all of baseball.

Manoah is a lifetime 28-18 pitcher with a 3.32 ERA.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady.