Alek Manoah’s had a rough start to the season. But he’s scheduled to open tomorrow night against the Detroit Tigers.
The 25-year-old pitcher, a bad boy of baseball, was the second runner up for the AL East’s Cy Young race last year.
On June 6 of this year, the Blue Jays announced Florida native Manoah would be sent down to the Florida Complex League after his ERA hit 6.36.
“It’s not a knee-jerk reaction,” said manager John [Schneider]. “Like I’ve been saying all along, we want to make sure we’re doing everything we can to help him get better, and we feel like that’s the proper first, initial step.”
MLB.com spelled John’s surname wrong
I don’t think Schneider was talking about stats.
I think Alek was down south for a different kind of rehab.
And not a soul in the sports journalism world has mentioned this as a possibility.
Last year I wrote that Conservative Should Really Cover Sports. Now I think that Sports Journalists Should Really Cover Sports, Too.
The Jays use the Bobby Mattick Training Center in Dunedin, Florida as a practice space.
That’s about a two hour drive from St. Cloud, home to the Darryl Strawberry Recovery Center. The facility opened last year and offers a 28-day residential program for addictions and substance abuse.
Obligatory:
Alek’s back in town for a July 7 start.
So, from June 6 to July 7, Alek was busy bombing in the Florida Complex League. But no matter! He returns as a major league starter less than 24 hours from now. That’s 31 days. If you include travel, that’s exactly enough time to complete a 28-day program.
They ain’t bringing him back because four weeks of intensive coaching cured his hitbox. They’re bringing him back because four weeks of intensive something else has brought back the old Alek.
And you’ll never see a word of it on the sports page.
But good luck, Alek, can’t wait to see you back.
Oof. The media’s been suffering for a while, but the absence of speculation isn’t giving me faith that even the most-least political topic isn’t being controlled.