TORONTO – The draft fell in a way that led the Toronto Blue Jays to a pitcher, mountain-of-a-young-man Alek Manoah out of West Virginia University, with the 11th overall pick. Nine of the 10 players selected ahead of him were position players, with only Texas Christian University lefty Nick Lodolo, at No. 7 to the Cincinnati Reds, preventing a clean sweep.
By the time the Blue Jays were up, amateur scouting director Steve Sanders had virtually the entire 2019 pitching pool to choose from, which is handy when the franchise is facing an organization-wide paucity of arms. Drafting based on immediate need is rarely a good idea, but in this instance, opportunity and deficiency dovetailed nicely.
"We really love what Alex brings to the table and his now-stuff," Sanders said during a conference call moments after making the pick Monday night. "But we do see room for him to continue to develop and continue to improve. He’s got a really well-rounded three-pitch mix (fastball, slider, changeup) we think is going to play at the next level."
Given the current circumstances at the big-league level and the desperate need for starters to time with developing position-player core, it’s natural to wonder when that might happen. College pitchers typically have a much faster trajectory to the majors than high-school arms. Those taken earlier in the draft, obviously, tend to be more advanced. If everything goes right, the six-foot-six, 260-pound righty from Miami has a chance to move quickly.
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Still, caution is warranted. Developing starters is no easy task, as the Blue Jays draft record with college pitchers since 2000 shows. David Purcey and Zach Jackson (2004), Trystan Magnuson (2007), Chad Jenkins (2009), Deck McGuire and Asher Wojciechowski (2010), Jeff Hoffman (2014), Jon Harris (2015) and T.J. Zeuch (2016) all had the potential to zip through the system and make an impact, and didn’t.
Ricky Romero (2005) needed parts of five seasons in the minors before he broke through. James Paxton (2009) didn’t sign and was redrafted by the Seattle Mariners, only touching the big-leagues in 2013. Marcus Stroman (2012) is the exception, making 20 starts and appearing in 26 games in 2014, a lone home run in between a lot of swing and miss.
Why might Manoah be different?
Well, of the above group, only Romero (sixth) and McGuire (11th) were picked as high or higher than him. One became an all-star, one didn’t, but from a talent perspective, the Blue Jays weren’t going to do much better in that spot. With their second-round pick, No. 52 overall, they aimed for some upside in high-school right-hander Kendall Williams out of the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., whose fastball sits in the low-90s and has touched 94-95.
In due time, we’ll find out if they made the right pick at No. 11, especially since, as Baseball America noted in its scouting report, "the list of major-league starting pitchers who have had success at or near Manoah’s size is short."
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Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins and president and CEO Mark Shapiro, of course, happen to be very familiar with one of them – CC Sabathia – so this isn’t exactly uncharted waters.
"We’re seeing at the major-league level pitchers coming in all shapes and sizes, so I don’t think we try to go for a specific body type or specific build – different body types, different playing weights, different sizes work for different guys," said Sanders. "Sometimes that depends on the delivery or the arm action or how the body works.
"What we were so impressed by with Alek is for a guy his size, he’s got tremendous feel," he continued. "He’s got the ability to make adjustments and he’s not just a power pitcher. He’s got a combination of power and pitchability and the ability to command three pitches for strikes. It’s really, we feel, a unique combination that’s got a chance to make him very successful."
The Blue Jays feel his makeup is an important factor in that regard, too. Area scout Coulson Barbiche and regional cross-checker Michael Youngberg have been following him for a while, and the club had background work on Manoah from his high school days, too.
In a tweet, West Virginia head coach Randy Mazey described the Big 12 pitcher of the year as "one of the greatest I’ve ever been around," and called his being drafted, "one of my happiest moments as a coach."
Even more telling is a video Mazey tweeted of his removal of a reluctant Manoah from the Mountaineers’ regular season finale, and of how his teammates react to him on the mound.
You want to know what it's like to try and take Alek Manoah out of a game? @WVUBaseball @Alek–Manoah47 #hailwv pic.twitter.com/TkDhKNCBrG
— Coach Randy Mazey (@CoachMazey) May 18, 2019
Little things like that matter, even if it guarantees nothing, because there are no guarantees in the draft, which is, at best, educated guesswork. But there’s a lot there for them to bet on.
"Alek’s a big guy, but he’s tremendously athletic," says Sanders. "He’s done a great job getting himself into really good shape. He hauled a lot of innings this year (108.1) and maintained extremely high-level stuff from wire to wire (94-97 m.p.h. with sink on the fastball). That’s something that a big, durable frame will help him do.
"We see him as a big, strong, durable guy that has the chance to take the ball every five days in a major-league rotation."
Boy, do the Blue Jays ever need that assessment to turn out right.
