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

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.