Pitcher Alek Manoah reportedly refused to join the Toronto Blue Jays’ AAA farm club, the Buffalo Bisons, when he was demoted on August 11.
Sportsnet journalist Jeff Blair revealed this on Tuesday during his appearance on the “Talkin’ Baseball” podcast. He also pointed out that the 25-year-old Gunner doesn’t even do hill drills and individual training anymore.
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With that in mind, it would be very surprising to see Manoah back on the mound in 2023, and it’s even possible that his time in the Queen City organization is over.
Going into this campaign, the first-round pick (11th overall) in the 2019 draft was expected to be the Blue Jays’ ace on the mound. However, the starter endured a season of misery. The 2022 USA Cy Young Award finalist held a 3-9 record and a 5.87 earned run average. He also gave away 59 free passes to his rivals in 19 starts.
Manoah was also demoted to minors in June. This time he had accepted his fate. He had played one game in the rookie league and one game in the AA.