Alek Manoah to continue pitching out of the rotation for the Blue Jays following season debut

He pitched a clean inning before allowing a solo home run in the third inning to Luis García Jr., where he hung a slider in the middle of the zone. The bottom of the fourth is where things started to unravel, as the Nationals plated five more runs, which included a three-run home run off Jesse Winker (another hung slider in the zone).

Alek Manoah to remain in Blue Jays’ rotation following 2024 season debut

His final line on the day was six hits and six earned runs allowed (seven runs total) through four innings while striking out six batters, which included eight swings and misses on the day. Manoah’s command was his biggest sticking point, as he allowed four walks and hit one batter on the day which didn’t help with his five-run fourth inning that put the Nationals ahead.

He produced a 56.5% strike rate on 92 pitches and used his sinker (38%), slider (37%) and four-seam fastball (24%) for the majority of the outing while adding in one changeup. His fastball generated 40% of the whiffs on the day (two misses on five swings) while his slider ranked second, generating four on 16 swings. The velocity was also strong, with Manoah averaging 94.2 MPH on his fastball offerings on the day and hitting 95.8 MPH at his max.

The downfall on the day was his command in specific at-bats, which put him into trouble on the base paths while elevating his pitch count early with the extra pitches needed especially in the fourth inning. He did have some bright spots on the day even with the six earned runs, especially when his slider was dialled in and he was hitting his spots with the sinker and four-seam, but the walks did him in and put runners on in situations that the Nationals bat capitalized on when he missed his spots.

This was Manoah’s first start in the big leagues dating back to August 10th of last year, where the former Cy-Young finalist struggled to replicate his success on the mound and struggled to a 5.87 ERA through 19 starts and ended up in the minors on numerous occasions.

The Jays’ current schedule has two off-days in the upcoming week and his next start (if the rotation schedule remains the same) would be Sunday, May 12th against the Minnesota Twins back in Toronto. The organization’s depth in the starting rotation is thin at the moment with Bowden Francis, Yariel Rodríguez, and top prospect Ricky Tiedemann currently on the IL.

Tyson Shushkewich is a contributor at the Blue Jays Nation. He can be followed on X or Instagram at Tyson_MLB or reached via email at Tyson_MLB@hotmail.com