Toronto Blue Jays Make Huge Decision About Pitching Staff

With Hyun Jin Ryu back in the fold, the Toronto Blue Jays needed to figure out a way to deal with their six-man rotation moving forward. With two days off next week, it's certainly not a viable use of the roster to have six starters when they'll really only need four next week, max. 

And with that, the team has made the difficult decision to once again send Alek Manoah down to the minors, this time to Triple-A.

The Blue Jays announce they have optioned Alek Manoah to Triple-A pic.twitter.com/R1JgIDqjEe

— Talkin’ Baseball (@TalkinBaseball_) August 11, 2023

Last year's Top 3 Cy Young contender, Manoah has been a shell of himself this season, and since coming back from his month-long rookie league stint, he's once again been up-and-down. Thursday's performance in a loss to the Cleveland Guardians—4.0 innings, 4 earned runs, 3 walks—seemed to have sealed his fate as the Jays faced their roster crunch. 

He has a 5.79 ERA in his last five starts since returning, with a 1.59 WHIP. He's surrendered 17 walks vs. 23 strikeouts in his last 23 innings. 

On the season, the 25-year-old is 3-9 with a 5.87 earned run average and WHIP of 1.740 over 87.1 innings. 

With only a 1.5 game lead up on the Seattle Mariners for the 3rd and final Wild Card spot, the Blue Jays don't have the luxury anymore to wait for Manoah to figure it out at the major league level. 

Hagen Danner, a 24-year-old hard-throwing righty has been called up in Manoah’s place, to make his major league debut.

Photo: Eric Canha-USA TODAY Sports