Part 1: Comparing Alek Manoah’s rookie season to former Blue Jays pitchers

Roy Halladay

Rookie Season: 36 games (18 starts); 149.1 IP; 3.92 ERA; 82 strikeouts; 1.574 WHIP

Another first-round draft pick for the Blue Jays, Roy Halladay would become one of the top pitchers in franchise history, starting with his debut in 1998 and his rookie season in 1999. Noted for his work ethic, workhorse mentality, and off-the-field charity initiatives, Halladay was one of the biggest draws during some pretty rough seasons for the Blue Jays, earning six all-star appearances with one Cy-Young award during his 12 seasons with the organization. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2019 and while he passed away in late 2017, Halladay will forever live in the franchise record books as one of the top pitchers in club history.

Halladay’s rookie season would be one where he saw action in both the rotation and the bullpen, starting the season as a relief pitcher before making a few starts and then bouncing between both roles to finish the campaign. While he did give up 156 hits and 79 walks, Halladay was able to limit the damage to 65 earned runs with 82 strikeouts and a 3.92 ERA.

Crunching the Numbers

Alek Manoah once again leads with his 3.22 ERA over Halladay’s 3.92 ERA, however, the former Blue Jay had a lot more appearances than the current right-hander, finishing with two fewer starts but 16 more outings overall when you factor in the relief innings. Surprisingly, Manoah has the edge in terms of strikeouts (127 vs. 82) despite Halladay having 37.9 innings over the Florida product, while Manoah also sports a superior WHIP (1.048 vs. 1.574). He also has the edge over Halladay in terms of home runs allowed (12 vs. 19), H/9 (6.2 vs. 9.4), and K/9 (10.2 vs. 4.9).

Arguably, Halladay wouldn’t really hit his stride until 2002, where he started becoming the workhorse that fans haven’t seen from a Blue Jays starter since he was traded away prior to the 2010 season, so a comparison between the two may not seem fair. Considering the legacy Halladay left behind, not only with the Jays but also with the Philadelphia Phillies, here is hoping Manoah can follow in his footsteps and potentially become one of the club’s top pitchers over the next 5-6 seasons.

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Part two coming soon.