If someone had told Toronto Blue Jays fans a few years ago that Alek Manoah would almost be out of the league and in one of the worst spots in baseball on the mound, many would have thought they were crazy.
Manoah has dealt with multiple injuries over the past few seasons, which certainly haven’t helped, but he was truly expected to be a very good arm in this league for a long time.
That hasn’t been the case, and after being non-tendered by the Atlanta Braves, there are certainly some uncertainties about what his career looks like moving forward.
When examining possible candidates for the Detroit Tigers to take a look at, Evan Petzold believes the former Blue Jays right-hander could be an option for Detroit.
“Manoah – a 2022 All-Star as part of a four-year MLB career – didn’t pitch in the big leagues last season. He spent all of 2025 in the minors, making 10 starts across four levels. In Triple-A, he posted a 2.97 ERA with 18 walks and 30 strikeouts over 33⅓ innings in seven starts.
“His sinker averaged 91.1 mph in those outings, down from 93.3 mph in 2022, while his slider generated a 37.8% whiff rate, up from 31.8% in 2022. After his All-Star season, Manoah struggled with underperformance in 2023, underwent Tommy John surgery in 2024 and didn’t fully rebound in 2025,” he wrote.
Manoah likely needs an opportunity to go to a non-contending team just to get innings, or at least not have to worry as much about being perfect while returning from injury.
It’ll be interesting to see if that opportunity presents itself, but if his stuff ever gets back to what it once was, he should be in a good spot to continue playing this game at a very high level.
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