Alek Manoah (SP, TOR) - Week 9 Waiver Wire Pickups

Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Alek Manoah is a fantasy baseball waiver wire pickup and add for Week 9 of the MLB season.

BALLER MOVE: Add in All Leagues

ROSTERED IN: 38% of leagues

ANALYSIS: The Toronto Blue Jays are calling up starting pitcher Alek Manoah to make his MLB debut against the New York Yankees on Wednesday. He is widely available on the waiver wire and fantasy managers in all formats need to make adding him priority #1.

The 6'6" 23-year-old Manoah has had a meteoric rise up the MLB prospect rankings since spring training. He made two outings in spring training, both against the Yankees, and went on to pitch five shutout innings while recording 11 strikeouts.

He began the 2021 season at Triple-A and has been nothing short of dominant. Over three starts and 18 innings, he's allowed just seven hits, three walks and one earned run while striking out 27 batters. Those numbers are good for a 0.50 ERA and 0.556 WHIP with 13.5 K/9.

Manoah has a mid-90s fastball that can reach up to 97 mph to go along with a strong slider as well as a changeup. He's also been mixing in a sinker lately. So unlike many other prospects going into an MLB debut, Manoah is more than just a one or two-pitch pitcher.

The Blue Jays have an open rotation spot with Nate Pearson (shoulder) on the injured list. They also may be looking to replace the struggling Ross Stripling (5.63 ERA, 1.50 WHIP) in the rotation. If Manoah performs well on Wednesday, he will likely have some staying power in the rotation with the chance to remain in the rotation all year. He may not pitch too deep into games, but he will reward fantasy managers with some fantastic ratios if he keeps building on his recent success.

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