Former West Virginia pitcher Alek Manoah struggled with the Toronto Blue Jays last season and was eventually sent down to the Florida Complex League to attempt to work through his struggles.
In 87.1 innings pitched in 2023, Manoah has a 3-9 record, with a 5.87 ERA and a 1.74 WHIP in 19 starts. Despite his down year, the Blue Jays have refused to trade Manoah and have not taken calls regarding trade interest in the 6-foot-6 RHP.
Manoah was drafted in the first round of the MLB Draft, 11th overall by Toronto in 2019 and made his debut in 2021. The following season in 2022 was his breaking-out year, however.
In his age-24 season, Manoah started 31 games on the bump, going 16-7 in 196.2 IP, with a 2.24 ERA and 180 strikeouts, finishing with a 6.0 WAR. He was named to the all-star team that season, finished third in the AL Cy Young race and 17th in the AL MVP voting
After struggling last season, many are unsure if Manoah can return to his 2022 form and help the Blue Jays make a playoff push in a tough AL East Division. In his lone spring training start so far, Manoah has made one start pitching 1.2 innings allowing four earned runs on three hits and a walk.
According to FanGraphs in 2024, Manoah is projected to start 23 games, pitch 122 innings, going 8-8 with a 4.60 ERA. He is projected to finish with a positive 1.1 WAR while claiming 111 strikeouts.
At West Virginia, Manoah made 58 appearances, starting 34 games, including throwing two complete games and two shutouts, which both came in his junior season in 2019. Across three seasons he had a 2.81 ERA, with a 2.08 ERA in his final season in Morgantown. He registered 249 punchouts in his career across a total of 208 innings, he also made four saves across his first two seasons.
