Blue Jays mailbag: Fans really need to stop treating Manoah as if he’s the saviour

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This article was published 20/04/2021 (1665 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Blue Jays have not gotten off to the start they were hoping for but considering all the injuries that have taken place just three weeks into the regular season, their situation could be a lot worse.

Toronto entered its series opener in Boston on Tuesday night with a 7-9 record, which was good enough for a third-place tie with the Baltimore Orioles. The Tampa Bay Rays were marginally better at 9-8 while the first-place Boston Red Sox have been the biggest surprise at 11-6.

The Blue Jays are hanging tough even as they try to survive without a laundry list of injured players. The team has been without star players like George Springer and Teoscar Hernandez and overall, the club currently has 10 players on the injured list.

The good news is that despite the setbacks, the Blue Jays aren’t buried in the standings. There isn’t a big deficit that will have to be made up later in the year, at least not yet, and a return to health could be just what this team needs to go on a run.

With that in mind, it’s time for another edition of the Blue Jays mailbag. As a friendly reminder, questions can be submitted to bluejaysmailbag@gmail.com or by reaching out to me on Twitter @GregorChisholm. The following question have been edited for length and grammar:

Is Alek Manoah not a better option than Tommy Milone, Tanner Roark, T.J. Zeuch or Joel Payamps? They are giving Alejandro Kirk a shot, why not Manoah who is 23 years old has elite stuff and pounds the strike zone fearlessly.

— Mike, Hamilton

People really need to stop treating Manoah as if he’s the saviour to what ails the pitching staff. I’m not trying to pick on the person asking the question, this has been a common theme for mailbag submissions over the last couple weeks. Everyone along with their cat and dog seems to think Manoah is the answer but it’s really not that simple.

All this hype surrounding Manoah is over what? Seven shutout innings in spring training? Because it certainly can’t be over the grand total of 17 innings he has tossed in the minors, none of which occurred above low-A Vancouver. Does everyone really need a reminder of all the guys looked great in the spring and then never amounted to much of anything? If so, I’m going to need a bigger word count because there are a lot of names to go through.

The point isn’t to suggest Manoah is going to be a bust. I haven’t seen enough of him to know and frankly the Blue Jays haven’t either. But this is a guy who barely pitched in any games over the last two years. He needs to get his innings up and develop a third pitch to make it as a starter. If he entered the rotation now, he likely would be shut down by the summer. If he was put in the bullpen, instead of getting stretched out, it would make it that much more difficult to come back later as a starter.

The Blue Jays have tried something like this before to mixed results. Roberto Osuna and Miguel Castro made the team out of spring training in 2015 despite limited experience in the minors. Osuna thrived while Castro fell apart and has struggled to find his footing ever since. Even then, it’s worth pointing out both pitchers made appearances at Dunedin and Lansing — as did Kirk — something Manoah has yet to do.

During the second half, after Manoah and a guy like Simeon Woods Richardson get some innings under their belts, perhaps they can become options out of the ’pen. Until then, let them continue with their development. The sacrifices made now could pay off later. Which brings us to our next question . . .

After watching my hockey team promote super talents as franchise saviours, I am wondering if baseball does a similar thing with talented young prospects. The current crop of young Jays will no doubt have good to great careers but does the team market them, the media need them for content and the fans get really pumped up during the off-season only to realize that in most cases it does take time and can create some roadblocks particularly with young pitchers. There can only be so many prodigies.

— Richard, Edmonton

This isn’t really a question but I’m going to address it anyways because it’s the perfect followup to the previous inquiry. If you want an understanding of how prospects get overhyped, look no further than the situation involving Manoah. I haven’t seen anyone in the mainstream media suggest he should be called up immediately, yet there seem to be a lot of fans who think he is ready. If Manoah got promoted and then faltered, the media and team surely would take the blame for overpromoting someone many didn’t hype up in the first place.

Sometimes the opposite is true. The prospect experts aren’t going to get it right every time and neither are the teams. Trial and error should be expected but everyone shares in the blame, not just one entity. Overall, though, the hype surrounding this Blue Jays core has been mostly on point. Few consider this team a legitimate World Series contender but instead as one that should compete for a post-season spot before peaking in another year or two.

I think the only time teams really overhype their prospects is when it’s someone they are looking to move. They can make a case for some of their guys to be listed among the top prospects to increase the perceived market value. It occurred a long time ago, but the Sergio Santos for Nestor Molina trade from 2011 comes to mind. The organization was never that high on Molina, but they showcased him by moving him quickly through the system and going out of their way to talk about his upside.

What are players doing without the ability to face live opponents like a rehab assignment right now?

— @MTripp32

It depends on the guy, but most are getting their work in at the Blue Jays’ minor league complex in Dunedin, Fla. With the minor league season not scheduled to begin for another couple weeks, prospects are currently going through modified version of extended spring training. Teams are travelling around for exhibition games just like the big leaguers did a month ago.

The rehabbing big leaguers are frequently getting into simulated games with their minor league teammates. George Springer is scheduled for live batting practice this week while Nate Pearson was scheduled to throw on Tuesday.

How long is Charlie Montoyo going to keep Marcus Semien in the leadoff spot. We need a change!

— Cullen, Winnipeg

There’s a chance it could happen later this week when Cavan Biggio returns to the lineup from a sore hand, but considering his recent struggles, that seems unlikely. The safer bet is that Montoyo will keep Semien right where he is until Springer makes his debut, which could happen as early as this weekend’s series in Tampa Bay.

Until Springer returns, there aren’t a lot of logical replacements to take over Semien’s top spot. Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. are already hitting second and third respectively, and almost everyone else has been ice cold. Fill-ins like Jonathan Davis and Joshua Palacios are better suited for the bottom half of the lineup and others like Randal Grichuk and Rowdy Tellez shouldn’t be hitting first. Semien is off to a slow start but I have no problem with how Montoyo has handled him so far. The bigger question is where does he slot in once Springer returns? He was projected to hit second but based on the results, he should be slotted fifth or lower.

Are Pearson and Thomas Hatch still nursing injuries at this point? Or is the challenge they need to build up their arm strength to make up for all the missed time?

— @omair_rana

It’s the latter. Both pitchers have been cleared to return, they just need to be gradually built up and I would expect the Blue Jays to be cautious in attempt to avoid any setbacks. Pearson, as mentioned above, was scheduled to throw in a simulated setting on Tuesday. He likely will repeat that process at least two or three more times before he would be considered for the big-league staff. A return sometime in early May appears possible with Hatch likely requiring a bit more time.

Which of the Red Sox and Yankees starts are more real?

— David, Dartmouth, N.S.

I don’t think either start is real. The Red Sox have been one of the AL’s biggest surprises with the Yankees as the biggest bust, but I wouldn’t be surprised if a month from now both teams are in a much different situation. If I’m forced to pick between the two, I believe there’s a better chance that the Yankees will flop than the Red Sox maintaining their hot start. New York’s pitching staff has just as many question marks as the Blue Jays and while their offence should heat up, the deeper a hole they dig now the harder it will be to dig out of later. The Red Sox likely are a better team than most people gave them credit for at the start of the year, but I don’t view them as a legitimate threat.

Has Dave Hudgens’s role changed since last season? I have not seen much of him on TV. When the Jays are at-bat, I frequently see John Schneider next to Charlie Montoyo. Pete Walker is naturally beside Charlie when the Jays are on the field. If I recall correctly, last year Hudgens was almost always next to Charlie in the former situation.

— Bob, Toronto

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I must admit, this isn’t something I noticed but I guess I’ll be paying a little closer attention to it now. But no, Hudgens’s role has not changed, he is still the bench coach and the fact that you haven’t seen him much on the broadcasts is probably more about the timing anything else. Keep in mind that Hudgens is a former hitting coach and he spends part of his time working with the hitters so it’s possible he’s in the tunnel or somewhere else when some of those dugout shots are taking place.

After it was announced last June that due to coronavirus procedures and protections, spitting by the players would be prohibited. Not only is it a disgusting habit at any time, and still rampant among the players a year later, why is this flouting of the rules tolerated? There seems to be no excuse for it, and the fact that “it’s always been done” doesn’t wash especially during this pandemic when everyone is asked and expected to follow the guidelines.

— Ruth, Toronto

They tried to do this last year in the Chinese Professional Baseball League and the ban was quickly abandoned because it was impossible to enforce. Spitting has become second nature for a lot of these guys and old habits die hard. And what would the league really do about it? Fine players for spitting? Suspend repeat offenders? This would be very difficult to police and the players’ association would never agree to such drastic measures. Spitting might be gross, but it’s ingrained within the sport. This was all talk at the start of the pandemic and nothing more.

Gregor Chisholm is a Toronto-based baseball columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @GregorChisholm or reach him via email: gchisholm@thestar.ca