Alek Manoah knows everything about having a roller coaster career. Two years ago, he was an AL Cy Young finalist and looked like the next ace of the Toronto Blue Jays. What followed was a downfall that felt almost irrecoverable. In the last two seasons his career has been marred by injuries, highlighted by having Tommy John surgery last May.
His drastic regression has put the Toronto Blue Jays in a hole they can’t fill. They brought in Max Scherzer and he’s been hit with injuries as well. Their pitching rotation has dwindled to borderline non-existent and it’s left the Blue Jays with little hope.
They have a lot to address when it comes to getting better pitching. But losing Manoah doesn’t help. Losing him in the sense of he may never look like he did during his All-star season in 2022.
Where do the Toronto Blue Jays go in addressing their biggest need as Alek Manoah gets healthy
Manoah started throwing in March for the first time following his UCL injury. It’s a good sign, but the Blue Jays can’t wait for him to get back to his old self and hope he retains his 2022 form. So what options does that leave the Blue Jays?
Well, it means they have to figure out how to either get some prospects via the draft or trades. They went the veteran route and it’s not working out right now. They already inked Vladimir Guerrero Jr. to a long term deal.
But he’s not a one-man show. They need pitching help. Sure, they need some more offense too, but they have aging arms in rotation. It’s starting to catch up to them. Manoah was supposed to be the player that carried this rotation.
Back in 2022, he struck out 180 batters with a 2.24 ERA with a 16-7 record. In 2023, he had a 5.78 ERA, a 3-9 record with 79 strikeouts. His 2024 was looking less optimistic before he got hurt. What a dropoff.
He’s far from carrying this rotation. Now the Blue Jays have a massive hole to fill. How will they do it? That’s well above my pay grade. But they better figure it out. It would be a shame for Guerrero Jr. to fall into the same trap the Mike Trout and the Los Angeles Angels have.
The Blue Jays tried to get Juan Soto but couldn’t, which shows how difficult it will be for them to compete with the big spenders. If it was hard for them to get a position player, it’s going to be even harder for them to get an ace. Manoah put them in this hole and it seems they don’t have the answer to getting out of it.