Alek Manoah was hanging out at the Bisons' hotel in Scranton on Monday's off day when he got a strange phone call from manager Casey Candaele, who had also been his skipper at Class A Vancouver in 2019. The manager wanted the Toronto Blue Jays' star pitching prospect to join him for lunch.
"I love Casey, but I've never gone to lunch with him, so I was kind of a little confused," Manoah said on a video call Tuesday afternoon from Yankee Stadium. "We had a bus ride the day before (from Worcester, Mass.), and he was kind of just like, 'Hey man, what happened on the bus yesterday?' And I had slept the whole bus ride. I was extremely confused.
The Blue Jays and Miami Marlins meet on June 1 to usher in a schedule that will be at least 18 games and could encompass all 59 remaining Toronto home games through October.
"I was like, 'I don't know what you're talking about,' and he's like, 'You sure there's nothing you want to tell me?' I was kind of freaking out for a little bit and then he was like, 'Nah, man, I'm just messing around. They want you to go pitch on Wednesday with the big team.' I was just extremely excited."
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Manoah couldn't stop smiling during his 20-minute chat with reporters Tuesday. Wednesday night in the Bronx, he'll make his much-anticipated major-league debut for the Jays against the New York Yankees.
The Blue Jays' No. 1 pick in 2019, Manoah forced Toronto's hand with three straight dominant outings at the start of his career for the Bisons. He won them all, allowing just one run in 18 innings for a 0.50 earned-run average – while piling up 27 strikeouts against just three walks.
"I talked to Casey Candaele today, and he said, "Man, this guy earned it. He was just lights-out. He was throwing strikes, and he deserves a shot,' " Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said. "And he's getting one. When you're at the Triple-A level and you keep pushing the envelope and pitching well ...That's what he did. He deserves a chance to come and pitch in the big leagues."
The 6-foot-6 Manoah was scheduled to be the Bisons' starter Tuesday in Scranton, but the Blue Jays needed an arm for Wednesday's game because their bullpen has been bedraggled by a string of blowups and extra-inning games the last week against Boston and Tampa Bay.
Things are going well in every facet of the game for the Buffalo Bisons in Trenton, N.J., bu…
Manoah struck out 11 Yankees in two spring training outings, but said things crystallized for him May 5 during his Triple-A debut for the Bisons in Trenton, N.J. He allowed just two hits in six shutout innings, struck out 12 and walked none in a Buffalo win over Worcester.
"There's always that question mark, especially getting thrown into the fire," Manoah admitted. "Am I going to be good and am I as good as they think I am? Things like that, but just continue to work. That's kind of my M.O., is continue to work, put my head down and not worry about those things. It's easy for it to creep in there, but you just got to creep them out real quick and and just go out there and attack.
"That first outing in Triple-A when I was able to attack those hitters and not walk anybody it was kind of just like, 'Hey man, the stuff plays.'Â It's just telling me what I already knew and I've just got to continue to attack."
Manoah said he got his Yankee Stadium gawking out of the way early Tuesday afternoon.
"I've got lost going everywhere. This place is huge. It's a maze," he said. "Kind of just trying to figure my way around. I was able to go out there and throw, kind of just really took everything in. How big the stadium is, the amount of history that's on the other side and all that stuff. Just enjoyed as much as I can today because tomorrow it's time to go to work."
"He dealt in Triple-A, he really did," Montoyo said. "I just think he's going to have a chance to be a really good big league pitcher, because he's confident. He's got the stuff. We all know that. But you have to have confidence to pitch at this level. And he has that."
