Alek Manoah, the Blue Jays’ No. 4 prospect and 2019 1st-round pick (11th overall), was just getting ready for his first full season of professional baseball before the season was delayed due to the national emergency caused by the coronavirus. While all players would rather be playing, Manoah has been able to look on the bright side of everything happening and use the downtime to better himself off the field.

MLB Pipeline recently caught up with Manoah to discuss the downtime, the eventual 2020 season and more.

Follow Alek on Twitter: @Alex_Manoah47

MLB Pipeline: So where are you at and what are you doing to stay busy?

Manoah: I’m actually back home in Miami and I’ve got my brother here too. Once they closed the facilities, I stayed in my apartment in Tampa for an extra week because I thought this was going to be quick, but once they started to lock all things down, my best resource is my brother. My brother [Erik Manoah Jr., a right-hander that used to play in the Angels' organization] and I work great together and we do everything together so being able to come home and [have] someone quarantining with me, that’s able to do all the same things that I need to do, that he needs to do as well, that’s been very helpful.

MLB Pipeline: When you’re not working out, how are you and your brother passing the time?

Manoah: I think the biggest thing is there are aspects off the field where this can help you. Sometimes athletes are constantly moving around, going to workouts, meetings and sometimes nutritionally you don’t eat at the same time every day, your routines can get out of whack and not everything is perfect. Now, when you wake up in the morning, you aren’t allowed to leave the house, it’s a perfect time to set a routine. Exactly how many times a day are you going to eat? When are you going to eat? To be consistent everyday is just one way -- when you’re not working out -- that can benefit you, working on that nutrition side.

The mental side as well. Seven months of the year, you’re not with your family and when you are home, you’re sacrificing family time to train and throw and go to yoga classes and all those kinds of things. I think being able to do all of those things at home -- my mom works out with me and my brother, and we’re able to do all that as a family. That really helps the mental side and keeps me positive, especially during times like this when I’m just anxious to throw a baseball against somebody.

MLB Pipeline: You are the first person I’ve talked to who has said this has had a positive effect on their diet.

Manoah: Ha. Yeah, I think it’s really easy where every time you turn on the TV, it’s negative. Every time you go on social media, it’s negative and it’s really hard to stay away from those things because you are at home with not much to do. You see all those negative things and it ruins your vibe for that day, that week and your emotions mess with how you eat and if you’re just negative all day, then everything is going to fall off.

MLB Pipeline: You didn’t throw a ton last year because of your workload at West Virginia, but what were your initial impressions of pro ball?

Manoah: I had the experience of a lifetime, especially in Vancouver. I was able to pitch in great atmospheres. Being in Canada and playing in Canada in front of 7,000 fans on a Tuesday at 1 p.m., it was an electric atmosphere and a really good taste of pro ball.

MLB Pipeline: How would you evaluate yourself as a pitcher? What do you consider your strengths and weaknesses?

Manoah: I would say my strengths are my competitiveness, my mindset and my attitude toward the game. I would say a scouting report, if you were going to face me, you just have to be ready for a dogfight. You have to be ready to work for every run, every pitch because I’m not going to be giving anything away. I attack everything I can … try to get me early in the game because once I get going, it’s going to be really hard, once I get in that rhythm.

MLB Pipeline: What do you want to accomplish in your first full season of pro ball?

Manoah: My biggest goal is to go and have a successful workload. I strive on being a big, durable body. I’m a big guy, I’m a strong guy. I have great endurance in my legs, my arm, and I have a really good attention span. I’m able to focus and dig deep in games. My biggest goal is to be able to go out there, whether I’m on a five-day rotation or a six-day rotation, just be able to make every start and be able to compete every start and give a quality outing every time I’m out there. … With that comes a good amount of innings, and I’m a strikeout pitcher so if I can get somewhere between 120 and 150 innings, strike out around 200 batters, those are kind of my goals.