Blue Jays' Manoah got totally rocked in his first minor league rehab start
There was a time when Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah was on top of the baseball world.
It’s hard not to think of his performance on Tuesday as rock bottom.
Sent down to Toronto’s Florida Complex League team — the lowest rung of the minor league ladder — earlier this month amid a season full of struggles, the 2022 Cy Young finalist had an abysmal showing in his first start with his new squad.
On Tuesday, Manoah lasted just two and two-thirds innings, allowing 11 earned runs and 10 hits, including two home runs. Manoah also walked a pair of batters, though he did manage three strikeouts before eventually being substituted for Guillermo Villasmil.
Manoah had never given up more than seven runs in a game in a major league contest.
At press time, the FCL Blue Jays were currently losing 11-5 to their New York Yankee affiliate counterparts.
“A lot of things I’ve been working on [I] didn’t even have a chance to really go out there and use,” Manoah said on June 5 following his last appearance in the major leagues, where he got just one out while giving up six runs to the Houston Astros.
While it’s just one awful start at the minor league level, Manoah’s trademark confidence appears completely shattered, as he’s nothing like the dynamic force Toronto fans had come to know over his first two seasons with the team.
Toronto manager John Schneider said earlier this month that there’s no timeline for Manoah’s return to the big league club.
“Whenever he’s ready is when he’s ready,” Schneider said, per MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson.
As a sophomore with the Blue Jays, Manoah had a record of 16-7 with an ERA of 2.24 and 180 strikeouts in 31 appearances in 2022, while he is sporting a record of 1-7 with an ERA of 6.36 and 48 strikeouts in 13 appearances this season at the major league level.
Toronto is currently fourth in the American League East, sporting a 43-36 record.
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