As Ross Stripling dug himself an early hole in Wednesday’s 7-3 loss to the Red Sox at TD Ballpark in Dunedin, Fla., Blue Jays fans shifted their attention up the East Coast to Worcester, Mass. It was Alek Manoah night.
Manoah was dominant once again, striking out 10 over six innings of one-run ball. The Blue Jays’ No. 5 prospect has now struck out 27 batters over 18 innings and owns a 0.50 ERA.
Manoah’s exceptional Spring Training performance brought him to the doorstep of the big leagues, earning him an aggressive assignment to Triple-A. The 6-foot-6 right-hander started to knock on the door with his early work, but at this point, he’s using a battering ram. The Blue Jays have a good problem on their hands, and the prospect of Manoah making his Major League debut is getting more tempting by the day.
Now that the Blue Jays have aligned Manoah and Stripling’s start days, it’s easy to tie the two together. At a glance, there’s a simple equation of incumbent and successor. Manoah’s development is too important to handle in a reactionary manner, though. This decision will be driven by Manoah alone, and when the organization deems him ready for the challenge of Major League Baseball.
This leaves only one question that’s more pressing than “when”: What else does Manoah have to do to prove to the Blue Jays that he’s ready?
“There’s always something, even with the best of the best,” general manager Ross Atkins said recently. “He could be better with his command, he could probably be better with his changeup usage, using his breaking ball in different counts or behind in counts. His fastball is such an effective weapon that he has to challenge himself against certain hitters to use his entire arsenal.”
A 0.50 ERA isn’t sustainable, of course. But if Manoah keeps things moving in this direction, he’s going to make the Blue Jays’ decision for them. That’s what they want.
It’s also a question of how much development can be handled in the Major Leagues. Does a prospect need to be 100 percent ready, or would a team be comfortable bringing up a mature prospect at 90 percent readiness and trusting him to continue that growth? It’s a balance the Blue Jays recently tried to strike with catcher Alejandro Kirk, who jumped from Class A Advanced to the Majors. Most of this decision depends on performance and physical projections, but not all of it.
“One of the things I’m so excited about is Alek’s time away from the field and the time he’s not pitching, how consistent he’s been,” Atkins said. “The time when he can do things to improve his career and do things to be consistent when he is on the mound. It’s been incredible. He’s been one of the most consistent with his routines, with his work in Triple-A.”
There are those important words, “consistent” and “routines.” Blue Jays fans who tracked every single step of Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s jump from Triple-A to the big leagues will be plenty familiar with them, and at times, they caused frustration. Manoah and Guerrero are drastically different cases, but when the Blue Jays talk about developing a player’s routines, they’re talking about a player being prepared to handle the ups and downs of Major League Baseball, whether it be physically or mentally.
Wednesday’s loss will only increase the calls for Manoah’s promotion. Stripling allowed six runs on eight hits over 3 2/3 innings, bumping his ERA up to 7.20. The veteran noticed immediately that the wind was adding some cut to his sinker, which is dangerous for a pitcher, so he almost abandoned the pitch entirely. Stripling didn’t want to use that as an excuse and continues to feel like he’s throwing better than the results show, but some of these recent struggles are forcing him to take a long look at his game.
“After four months, going back to last season, of pitching this way, part of me wonders if you go back to the drawing board and change some stuff up,” Stripling said.
Manoah doesn’t need much help at this point, but all signs are pointing in his direction, eventually.
It’s now a matter of when, not if, for Manoah in 2021. That wasn’t the case when he walked into camp this spring, but each time he picks up a baseball, he pushes up his timeline.