The Toronto Blue Jays selected Alec Manoa (25) as the starter for the opening game. Will he be able to show his skills last year this year as well?
Toronto coach John Schneider officially announced on the 26th (Korean time) that Manoa would be the starting pitcher for the opening game. Coach Schneider expected Manoa’s good pitching in the opening game, saying, “He has shown well that he enjoys big games.”
Manoa is a player well known to domestic fans as ‘Hyunjin Ryu’ since his rookie days. He seeks advice from Ryu Hyun-jin, and not only stays close to him, but also posts pictures of him enjoying Korean food together on his personal SNS (social network). To celebrate Ryu Hyun-jin, whose birthday was on the 25th, he had a birthday party with pitchers such as Yusei Kikuchi and Chris Bassett.
Such Manoa has already been active as Toronto’s ace last season. He made 31 starts and threw 196 2/3 innings, going 16-7 with a 2.24 earned run average and 180 strikeouts. Looking at his performance alone, he surpasses Ryu Hyun-jin’s career high in 2019. Although he failed to win the award due to Justin Verlander, he raised expectations by ranking third in the American League Cy Young Award voting.
No wonder Toronto chose Manoa as their Opening Day starter. However, he could have chosen Kevin Gaussman (31 games, 12 wins, 10 losses, average ERA of 3.35), who also pitched well last year. Gaussman also had a 5.7 (based on fan graph) WAR compared to substitute players last year, far superior to Manoa (4.1).
Even so, the reason why Toronto made Manoa the first starter is probably because there are expectations. The question is whether he can reproduce last year’s pitch. Manoa started against the Philadelphia Phillies on the 25th and recorded 3 hits, 2 walks, 6 strikeouts and 1 run in 6 innings.
Looking at the results alone, he was a good fighter, but his restraint was somewhat disappointing. He averaged a fastball of 91.5 miles per hour (147.3 km) and a sinker average of 91.1 miles (146.6 km). All of them are more than 2.2 miles (3.5 km) lower than last season (average of 93.9 miles for fastball and 93.3 miles for sinkers).
However, it is still a trial game. As long as Manoa’s condition can come up in time for the opening game, last year’s hot pitching can be reproduced.메이저사이트 As last year’s Cy Young Award winner Verlander transferred to the New York Mets, a national league player, his first personal award can be aimed at as much as he wants.