CLEARWATER, Fla. -- In 2021, Alek Manoah was the surprise of the season, going from a prospect to a pillar of the rotation seemingly overnight. This year, the sky-high expectations are already waiting for him.

Manoah loves it -- because of course he does.

“I’m competitive as ever,” Manoah said Saturday. “A lot of people talk about a sophomore slump or now [hitters] know what I’ve got. I’m out to prove that I know what they’ve got now. I can use that to my advantage. Last year, I was going in there facing guys without much information and homework.”

The towering 24-year-old came off the whirlwind 2021 season and allowed his body to rest, something he took from conversations with his close friend Hyun Jin Ryu. Manoah held off a bit longer before ramping up his offseason program, knowing now that he doesn’t need to be 100% ready to let it rip on Day 1 of Spring Training. Besides, that’s what camp is for.

Manoah has kept an eye on the Blue Jays’ offseason, too, as the club loads up for postseason runs in 2022 and beyond. The Matt Chapman acquisition is welcome news to any pitcher, leaving Manoah with one thought: “Now, I can just throw that sinker all day.”

Manoah has tried to be a sponge since arriving in the big leagues. Last season, he had AL Cy Young Award winner Robbie Ray to watch, along with Ryu. Now, he has a full season of José Berríos to watch, alongside Kevin Gausman and his trademark splitter. The best example of Manoah’s learning process, though, starts with Ryu’s cutter.

Manoah has liked the idea of tinkering with a Ryu-like cutter for a while, but when the Blue Jays signed Yusei Kikuchi, Manoah noticed him throwing a cutter much harder than Ryu’s. That makes more sense for the hard-throwing Manoah, so he’s considering looking further into that addition. Ryu and Kikuchi profile so much different than Manoah as pitchers, but he’s not only looking to learn from other big righties.

“I just love to study the game and different pitchers,” Manoah explained. “Baseball players tend to be weird. It’s interesting to me. For example, I don’t think Gausman throws his splitter in practice -- it’s just a game pitch for him. For me, being able to learn how he got there … how he got there, what made him feel like he didn’t need to throw it in [Spring Training] games, things like that."

Berríos staying on his heels
Berríos’ spring debut on Friday wasn’t the smoothest, but the ace came out of it feeling great physically after several coaches have referenced him looking stronger in camp. One difference in Berríos’ game is where he puts the weight on his back foot as he drives off the mound, as he's now trying to place it on his heel instead of closer to his toe.

“Last year, we finished the year trying to do that,” Berríos said. “As we start to know ourselves and see what we do wrong and have to do better, that’s one thing I noticed. If I stay more on my heel than my toe, I stay in line.”

Pitching extras

• Ryu threw live batting practice on Saturday while Gausman is scheduled to do the same on Sunday. Manoah is scheduled to start the club's Grapefruit League game on Monday, followed by Kikuchi on Tuesday. There’s plenty of time to make decisions on the structure of the rotation, but that’s an early hint.

• Right-hander Shaun Anderson, claimed off waivers from the Padres in November, is being built back up as a starter, a role he held earlier in his career. Anderson broke through as a starter in 2019 with the Giants, but he moved to a bullpen role the following season. As Toronto explores more creative roles with starting depth arms like Nate Pearson, Thomas Hatch, Ross Stripling and others, someone like Anderson could be a potential option to stabilize the Triple-A Buffalo rotation.