Three weeks after being demoted by the Toronto Blue Jays, Alec Manoa made his first start for the Florida Complex League Blue Jays on Tuesday, and the results weren’t promising for him.
The big right-handed batsman gave up 11 earned runs in 2.2 innings against new York YankeesThe FCL affiliate is in an outing that should be considered a setback on his way back to the major leagues.
To give some perspective on the quality of the competition Manoh was facing, six of the nine batters in the FCL Yankees lineup were under the age of 20.
He gave up two home runs in the start and the two hitters who took him deep — Roderick Arias and Keaner Delgado — had hit a combined two home runs in 117 at-bats on the season before Tuesday.
Manoa allowed significantly more base runners in the inning (12) than the number of batters he retired (8) and left the game with a 37.13 ERA.
Although the Blue Jays will be more interested in how Manoh’s arsenal and mechanics looked than his raw statistics, it seems reasonable to infer from the boxscores that the right-hander was not on his game.
After all, Manoh never scored more than seven earned runs in an MLB start. During his impressive 2022 season, he did not concede more than four wickets in any of his 31 appearances.
To be cornered to such an extent by a group of teenagers was a shocking result for him. That this debut comes in the wake of positive reports about the 25-year-old’s fake games in Florida makes it even more surprising.
It’s impossible to take a glimmer of hope out of an outing like Manoh’s on Tuesday, and from his work it appears he may not be able to help the Blue Jays at the major-league level for some time.