Blue Jays Opening Day starting pitcher will be Alek Manoah
TORONTO, March 24, 2023 – It’s hard to believe that baseball season is just a week away for our beloved Toronto Blue Jays but the team just announced that their season opening starting pitcher will be Alek Manoah, a 16-game winner last season in the highly competitive American League East. Manoah gets the nod for the Toronto Blue Jays as they open the season on the road Thursday, March 30 against the Cardinals at Busch Stadium. Miles Mikolas the Cardinals’ All-Star right-hander with plenty of experience will start for St. Louis.
The Blue Jays will be the first AL team to open the season in St. Louis in the Cardinals’ rich history. They will open with the hard-throwing Manoah, who ranked third in the AL in ERA (2.24), fourth in innings pitched (196.2) and fifth in opponents’ batting average (.202) last season. The 6-foot-6, 285-pound Manoah will be making the first Opening Day start of his two-year MLB career.
“It’s pretty amazing. A couple of years ago, I was coming into camp just doing everything I could to make it hard on them to send me down,” Manoah said. “A couple of years later to be named the Opening Day starter, I’m super blessed for the opportunity and just to be surrounded by the group of guys I’ve been surrounded by. Each and every one of them has helped me get to where I am today.”
The Cards, meanwhile were all set to award Adam Wainwright the seventh and final Opening Day start of his 18-year MLB career, but the veteran right-hander strained a groin muscle in a weight-room workout on Tuesday night prior to the World Baseball Classic championship game between Japan and Team USA. Wainwright, 3-2 with a no-decision in six career Opening Day starts, will now begin his final MLB season on the injured list.
Enter Mikolas, who was St. Louis’ Opening Day starter in 2019, when he allowed five runs over five innings in a loss to the Brewers in Milwaukee. Mikolas was an All-Star for a second time in 2022 despite having a losing record (12-13). He largely pitched well against foes’ top pitchers, but he often had bad luck. He toed the rubber against Max Scherzer, Corbin Burnes (three times), Shane McClanahan and Merrill Kelly during the ’22 season, and he mostly matched those stars pitch for pitch.
The Blue Jays couldn’t go wrong between Manoah and Kevin Gausman, but there are few pitchers in baseball who embrace the big stage like the 25-year-old Manoah. He has exceeded all expectations over his first two MLB seasons, skyrocketing to the big leagues in 2021 before emerging as an ace of the staff in ‘22. Manoah’s 2.24 ERA last season was impressive enough, but doing that over nearly 200 innings takes him to another level, carrying a heavy workload that he takes great pride in.
Manoah was a model of consistency in 2022, almost guaranteeing the Blue Jays six-plus innings each time he took the mound. An All-Star for the first time, Manoah’s breakout also earned him a third-place finish in American League Cy Young Award voting behind only Justin Verlander of the Astros and Dylan Cease of the White Sox.
Above all else, though, Manoah is must-see TV, and what else is Opening Day?
A towering presence atop the mound with a personality to match, Manoah has captured the swagger of Toronto’s 2015-16 playoff teams with a modern twist that’s all him. Whether it ends with the benches clearing or Manoah pounding his chest after seven shutout innings, his starts never lack entertainment. By earning this Opening Day nod, Manoah’s second turn should come in Kansas City before his third start lines up with the April 11 home opener in Toronto.
SOURCE Toronto Blue Jays, MLB News
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