Blue Jays' Alek Manoah demoted to rookie-level Florida league
Alek Manoah’s horrendous season is taking another disheartening turn.
On Tuesday, the Blue Jays’ right-hander was demoted to the Florida Complex League — a level below Single-A generally used for recent draftees and teenage prospects.
Manoah’s 2023 season couldn’t have gotten off to a tougher start, as he’s gone 1-7 with a 6.36 ERA and 1.90 WHIP across 59 innings.
Not only is he getting hit hard by the opposition — in the 26th percentile in hard-hit percentage in all of baseball — he has yielded a league-leading 42 walks.
The struggles reached an apex Monday night when he was throttled by the Astros for six runs in just one third of an inning.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said the decision to move Manoah down to the FCL was not something the organization cooked up overnight.
“It’s not a knee-jerk reaction,” Schneider said, according to MLB.com. “Like I’ve been saying all along, we want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to help him get better, and we feel like that’s the proper first, initial step.”
The struggles and demotion are a far cry from the dominance Manoah flashed last season when he was named an American League All-Star.
Alek Manoah gave up six runs during a short start Monday. Getty Images
The 25-year-old Manoah, who struck out the side during his appearance in the Midsummer Classic last year, won 16 games with a 2.24 ERA and finished third in the AL Cy Young award race.
Fellow Toronto right-hander Jose Berrios had his own issues last year and said he empathizes with what Manoah is going through.
“I can tell Alek and people going through the same thing he’s been going through: keep believing in yourself… keep working,” Berrios said, according to Sportsnet.
“He still has the ability and opportunity to get better. I know he’s going to be back with us sooner than later.”
Alek Manoah USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Con
The 2019 first-round pick only threw 35 minor league innings before his call-up to the majors in the summer of 2021 and did not once pitch at the rookie level.
Now, Manoah will venture into unchartered waters in hopes of getting back to the majors.
Source: New York Post
