Who should be the Blue Jays Opening Day starter for the 2022 season?

Alek Manoah

Making his big league debut for the Blue Jays last season, Alek Manoah was solid in his rookie season and was one of the biggest surprises coming into the season. Riding a hot streak from Spring Training and through three starts in AAA, Manoah joined the Jays and finished the year with a 3.22 ERA through 20 starts, racking up a 10.2 K/9 and a 1.049 WHIP on his way to 111.2 innings pitched.

Fangraphs Steamer projection for Manoah in 2022 has the right-hander starting 26 games with 162 strikeouts and a 4.06 ERA through 147.0 innings pitched. This would be a step back for the Florida product who had an excellent 2021 campaign but Manoah could prove any doubters wrong by continuing to pitch well in his sophomore campaign.

Manoah would be an interesting name to start Opening Day for the Blue Jays this season. He isn’t necessarily the most popular figure in “Charm City”, starting a fracas after hitting Maikel Franco with an inside pitch on June 19th that had the Orioles up in arms and lead to Manoah being ejected from the game and subsequently suspended. While it isn’t a guarantee that Orioles fans will remember the incident in question, an electric Manoah could provide some great fun in Baltimore if he continues his rookie campaign dominance this year.

The right-hander is also no stranger to the big games, making his debut against the New York Yankees at their home barn and going six strong innings without allowing an earned run with seven strikeouts. He also went seven strong against Baltimore at the tail end of the 2021 campaign when the Jays playoff hopes were on the line, proving to the Blue Jays that he could be trusted in do-or-die scenarios.

Manoah is made for the big moments. Why not let him start Opening Day?