"I Fucked Up": Why Was Alek Manoah Pulled Early vs. The Orioles?

TORONTO – Alek Manoah’s been in a deep funk this season, but there were plenty of promising signs during Saturday's game against the Orioles. Here’s what stood out. 

Improvement in Putaway Counts

Much has been made of Manoah’s struggles in even-count and full-count scenarios. For example, the right-hander entered Saturday allowing opposing hitters a .924 OPS in 3-2 counts. Baltimore grinded Manoah hard in the first inning, with the ever-patient Adley Rutschman battling for a nine-pitch walk, but after that, he smoothed things out.

The 25-year-old allowed a run in the second after George Springer came up short on a dive in right field, resulting in a lead-off triple. Cedric Mullins also homered on a tight pitch down and in, which, for the record, was a decently located pitch. But Manoah was unphased – quite the contrast from his last start versus the Rays, where he allowed a career-high seven walks.

In the end, his numbers looked much better. Manoah tossed 5.2 innings, allowing only two runs on six hits with an excellent 5:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. But why did he get yanked after just 85 pitches? More on that in a moment.

Better Action From The Slider

Manoah’s stuff still wasn’t especially pristine – there were a couple of backup sliders – but he avoided the big mistake pitches. He generated a solid 30% called-strike-plus-whiff-rate on the breaking ball, which, at the very least, kept Orioles hitters honest.

Why Was Manoah Pulled Early?

John Schneider made a big mistake. With two outs in the sixth, he jogged to the mound to chat with Manoah, and, presumably, give him a chance to continue the inning. What Schneider forgot was that pitching coach Pete Walker had already visited the mound earlier that inning. As the Jays skipper walked away, home plate umpire Dan Iassogna whipped out his scorecard and reminded Schneider of the situation.

Schneider immediately pivoted back to the mound and took the ball from a dejected Manoah, who had plenty of gas in the tank remaining at 85 pitches. The Jays starter cracked a disbelieving smile as he walked off the mound before patting his hands on his head. Luckily, incoming reliever Tim Mayza bailed out his manager’s miscue by getting a flyout to deep center field.

Chemistry With Danny Jansen Behind The Plate

Before the game, Schneider explained his decision to go with Jansen instead of Alejandro Kirk, Manoah’s usual personal catcher.

"We're comfortable with either one of those guys catching any of our starters," Schneider said. "And just a kind of different look for Alek."

Of course, getting Jansen's hot bat (eight hits, seven RBI in his last six games) into the lineup was part of the equation. That element proved more important, as the 28-year-old socked a solo home run in the sixth, which, at the time, gave Toronto the lead.