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Decision Time: What should the Blue Jays do with Alek Manoah?

By Nigel Clarke |
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If rock bottom exists, then Alek Manoah may have hit it in his most recent start for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Surely it can’t get much worse than the six earned runs Manoah allowed in only 1/3 of an inning against the Houston Astros, a performance which further ballooned his season ERA to 6.36 – just for reference, when Yusei Kikuchi was pulled from the starting rotation in August of last year, his ERA was 5.25.

With his struggles reaching prolific levels, the question has become, what should the Blue Jays do with Alek Manoah?

Let’s take a look at the options …

What do the Blue Jays do with Alek Manoah?

Option 1: Phantom IL stint

It’s more than statistics with Manoah right now. Particularly in his past two starts, he has appeared close to tears on the mound, a shell of the man who stomped around beating his chest and oozing charisma for the past two years.

It might be that a week or two away to reset and refresh is exactly what Manoah needs right now, whether that means going home, on vacation, or to the Player Development Complex in Dunedin, anywhere out of the spotlight.

Because of the way the Blue Jays schedule sets up, now might even be the ideal time to get Manoah some time off.

After finishing this homestand against Houston and Minnesota, the Jays head out on the road for three games in Baltimore and three in Texas, not exactly ideal for a struggling pitcher. Afterwards, however, they begin a run of series against Miami, Oakland, and San Francisco, certainly a much softer landing for someone looking to get back on track.

With an off day in the schedule next week, the Jays could shut Manoah down for two weeks and only have to cover one start if they kept everyone on regular rest.

The team might even consider bringing him back specifically to face Oakland at home, because, well, if you can’t beat Oakland this year …

The downside

At this point, Manoah might need more than just a mental reset.

There is no way to sugar coat it, his mechanics have imploded in 2023 – his slider lacks bite, and his fastball sails in all directions, but never quite the direction he wants. Consider, Manoah’s 6.4 walks per nine innings this season is exactly double what it was in 2021 (3.2), and nearly triple what it was in 2022 (2.3).

He might not need time off, but time on.

Which brings us to the next option for what the Blue Jays could do with Alek Manoah …

Option 2: Send him to the minors

If Manoah needs to overhaul his mechanics, it will be all but impossible to do against big league hitters in meaningful games. The good news is that unlike José Berríos during his struggles last year, Manoah has options remaining and can be sent to the minor leagues without exposing him to waivers.

The best thing to do right now might be to send Manoah to Triple-A, or perhaps lower than that, and let him tinker with his mechanics against minor league hitters in a low-stress environment.

If you want to be optimistic about this option, you might reminisce fondly on the incredible journey of Roy Halladay. After breaking into the big leagues with two promising years, ‘Doc’ put up an ERA of 10.64 in his third year and was sent all the way back down to A-ball to completely rebuild his delivery. When he returned, he only went on to become possibly the greatest pitcher in Blue Jays franchise history.

The downside

If the Jays are going to send Manoah to the minors, they will, of course, need to replace him in the rotation. This is where things get dicey.

To put it bluntly, the options within the organization are somewhere between poor and non-existent.

Down at Triple-A Buffalo, there is exactly one starting pitcher with an ERA under 4.50 – Bowden Francis, a 27-year-old with a 3.45 ERA for the Bisons and 0.2 career innings pitched in the majors, not exactly a blue chip prospect.

If not him, do the Jays turn back to Mitch White, days after John Schneider announced he was no longer a starting pitching option? Do they dive a level deeper and tap Adam Kloffenstein, a 22-year-old who has impressed with the New Hampshire Fisher Cats, but is only a few months removed from a 6.07 ERA at Double-A in 2022?

One thing is for sure, 20-year-old phenom Ricky Tiedemann is not about to ride in and save the day. He hasn’t pitched since May 4 due to bicep discomfort, and before that, had a 4.97 ERA in Double-A.

You know the options are lacking when people are calling for the team to sign scrap heap free agents like Chris Archer or Michael Pineda.

The point is, unless the Jays are going to ambush the trade market early and attempt to pry away someone like Corbin Burnes, Lucas Giolito, Shane Bieber, etc. from their respective teams, there aren’t really any glaring options begging for a shot in the Jays rotation.

Option 3: Stick with your ace

This final option might be the least popular with Jays fans and prognosticators right now, but if there is one argument for continuing to send Manoah out there every fifth day while he is struggling like this, it’s that, well, you know it’s in there.

Over the past two seasons, Manoah has been no less than one of the best pitchers in baseball, throwing up ERAs of 2.24 and 3.22, while making the All Star game and finishing third in Cy Young voting in 2022.

This isn’t the same type of situation as, say, Orioles super-prospect Grayson Rodriguez, who since making his major league debut to great fanfare earlier this season has pitched to a 7.35 ERA, and oh, by the way, was only born one year before Manoah.

While Orioles fans are hoping Rodriguez can be a good major leaguer, Blue Jays fans know Manoah can be one.

And really, who among us hasn’t watched a Manoah start over the last two months waiting with bated breath for him to find it again. Perhaps, like that famous meme, the breakthrough is inches away …

The downside

Last year, as the Jays waited for Berrios and Kikuchi to try to figure it out, they spent every day of the season in a playoff spot. This year, however, they are not only looking up at the Rays on top of the American League East, but at the Orioles, Astros, and Yankees in the Wild Card race, not to mention the rebuilt Texas Rangers, who sit atop the AL West.

Simply, the Jays are not good enough at this moment in time to have essentially an automatic loss every fifth day. Think ‘automatic loss’ is too strong a statement? The Jays have literally lost every single game started by Manoah in May and June (0-7).

If the Jays truly see themselves as contenders in 2023, they probably don’t have much more time to wait for Manoah to figure it out.

Whatever the Jays decide to do, let’s hope it works, because Manoah is such a pleasure to watch when he’s on. That said, what do you think they should do? Let me know on Twitter – @WriteFieldDeep.

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