Alek Manoah Prioritizing Changeup For 2022
3 years agoToronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Alek Manoah exceeded all expectations in his rookie season in 2021. Over 20 starts, he went 9-2 with a 3.22 ERA and 1.05 WHIP while averaging 10.2 K/9. His peripheral stats mostly backed up his strong surface numbers. He had a 3.30 xERA and he limited batters to a 31.2% hard-hit rate, which ranked him in the 93rd percentile. Going into 2022, Manoah is looking to improve his changeup to bolster his arsenal. He recently told MLB.com, that "the development of the changeup and mixing everything in" was a focus of his. He stated that he wanted to "keep hitters off balance the whole year." Last year, his two best pitches were his four-seam fastball and slider, which he threw 36.2% of the time and 27.8% of the time, respectively. His changeup, however, he only threw 9.4% of the time and it generated a whiff rate of just 13.0%. He is currently ranked as the 24th overall pitcher by RotoBaller. He's a great target at that point with upside to build on his strong rookie campaign.
Source: MLB.com
Source: MLB.com