"He cheated": Blue Jays' Alek Manoah shares spicy takes on Gerrit Cole

If Toronto Blue Jays players are filling out Christmas cards this holiday season, suffice to say there are a few opponents (if any) who won’t be receiving good tidings from 1 Blue Jays Way.

The offseason has barely begun, but a beef between two starting pitchers from the Blue Jays and New York Yankees may kick into high gear already.

You may recall a certain dustup earlier this year between Alek Manoah and Gerrit Cole. The issue stemmed from a pitch that hit Aaron Judge on the hand back on August 22. Cole took exception with the hit by pitch and stormed the field in defence of his outfielder.

Meanwhile, Manoah shot back after the game, saying: “If Gerrit wants to do something, he can walk past the Audi sign next time.”

Just in time for the holidays, fans received the next instalment of this feud that keeps on giving.

The Blue Jays starting pitcher appeared on an episode of Serge Ibaka’s “How Hungry Are You?” show and dished on his beef with Cole.

“It’s kind of like when the benches clear in basketball,” Manoah said. “Imagine you made a hard foul on somebody. You’re not trying to hurt him, but someone runs in from the bench and gets close to you. You’re going to be like: ‘Hey man, what the …'”

Then, as Ibaka and Manoah shared some stories while sipping on tea steeped with crickets, Ibaka asked a loaded question: who is the biggest cheater in baseball?

“Gerrit Cole,” Manoah said. “He cheated. He used a lot of like sticky stuff to make his pitches better, and he kind of got called out on it.”

Alek Manoah says Gerrit Cole is the biggest cheater in baseball history pic.twitter.com/XmQ1XewD4M

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) November 21, 2022

It’s true that’s a bit of a leading question, but out of all the debauchery in the history of baseball, it’s interesting that Manoah went with Cole for his answer. But clearly the Yankees’ ace was top of mind for Manoah, having just spoken about his beef with Cole previously.

The entire episode with Manoah is worth watching because he also shared how, on his off days, starting pitchers sometimes partake in “rally beers” to help spark some offence for his teammates.

When asked which player would have his back in a fight, Manoah sided with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. And the teammate most likely to run and hide in a brawl? Manoah answered Ross Stripling for that one.

After Manoah’s comments on Cole, there’s certainly no love lost between the Blue Jays and Yankees. The Bronx Bombers ultimately had the last laugh this year, celebrating their division title on the Blue Jays’ home soil, but Toronto only finished seven games back in the win column in 2022.

Fans should circle April 21 to 23 of next year as a must-watch series as the Blue Jays and Yankees will face off for a three-game series in the Bronx. Things could get very interesting depending on which pitchers are on the mound for that series.

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