TORONTO – The Blue Jays are shifting back to a five-man rotation and Alek Manoah is the odd man out.
Manoah has been optioned back to Triple-A, adding another layer to a stunning season of difficulties after the 25-year-old broke out as one of the game’s best young starting pitchers just a year ago. Reliever Hagen Danner has been called up in Manoah’s place to make his MLB debut.
The clock has been ticking on this decision since the return of Hyun Jin Ryu. The Blue Jays are finishing off a stretch of 17 games in 17 days, but they have off-days waiting on Monday and Thursday. Add in another off-day on Aug. 21, and a six-man rotation is no longer sensible.
“With where we are right now in terms of schedule and other starters, it’s a tough discussion,” said manager John Schneider. “He’s our Opening Day starter. It’s an unfortunate thing for anyone. It was a tough conversation for sure.”
It still feels so strange to see Manoah’s name in the same sentence as “optioned," but that’s because of the reputation he built a year ago with a 2.24 ERA over 196 2/3 innings, earning him a third-place finish in AL Cy Young Award voting. This year has lived on the complete opposite end of that spectrum, and a 6.50 ERA through Manoah’s first 13 outings earned him a trip to the Blue Jays’ complex, where he spent a month slowly building himself back up to be part of this stretch run.
Now, that’s on hold.
Manoah had looked better since returning in early July, pitching to a 4.91 ERA, but some of the same issues popped up Thursday in Cleveland, where he lasted just four-plus innings with his pitch count climbing quickly due to walks and deep counts. There are a dozen smaller, more complicated issues at play, but nothing more important than Manoah being in the zone. What made him truly great in 2022 was his ability to say: “Here’s my best stuff. Try to hit it.” But since then, Manoah has strayed, admitted that he’s trying to be “too perfect” at times.
Manoah had an opportunity to stick in this rotation, but in the simplest of terms, he’s the No. 6 option right now.
“It just comes down to command and being in the zone,” Schneider said. “The times that he was in the zone here, he was really good. Whenever you’re issuing free passes and driving your pitch count up, it’s tough to win. It’s the same message we’ve been talking to him about all year.”
Yusei Kikuchi would have been a sensible candidate to move to the bullpen if he’d regressed in any way, but Kikuchi has become one of the stories of the season, a model of confidence on the mound. It looked like Ryu’s knee injury this past week in Cleveland would take care of the shift to a five-man rotation all by itself, too, but he escaped with only a bruise and some serious swelling, which he’s handled in time to make his next start this Sunday against the Cubs.
Manoah could return on Sept. 1, when rosters expand, or sooner if the Blue Jays have a need. A bullpen role doesn’t feel sensible in his case, but this should allow Manoah to continue to work on attacking the strike zone over a couple of outings in Triple-A.
“He has shown that he’s a very, very, very good Major League starter,” Schneider said. “So we want to keep him in that role.”
Let’s not ignore the promotion of Danner, who is one of this organization’s most interesting development stories. Drafted as a catcher out of high school in 2017, Danner struggled at the plate, but he always had a track record as a high-school pitcher in his back pocket. In ‘20, Danner began the transition back to the mound and immediately flashed potential as a fastball-slider reliever.
Danner has looked sharp in Triple-A this season, posting a 3.81 ERA with 35 strikeouts over 28 1/3 innings. At 24 years old, Danner is part of a new wave of homegrown talent capable of missing bats and pitching in high-leverage situations, which is a product of the Blue Jays taking more risks in their pitching development to chase more top-end outcomes. With Jordan Romano, Trevor Richards and Chad Green all nearing returns, Danner may not be with the Blue Jays for long, but this is his shot to make an impression for 2024.