Quick Facts
CapricornBiography
Alek Isaac Manoah (born January 9, 1998) is an American professional baseball pitcher in the Toronto Blue Jays organization.
Career
Manoah attended South Dade High School in Homestead, Florida. As a junior, he hit .492 with five home runs and 32 RBIs. That summer, he played in the Under Armour All-America Baseball Game at Wrigley Field. During his senior year, he signed to play college baseball at West Virginia University. Manoah was not drafted in the 2016 Major League Baseball draft out of high school and thus enrolled at West Virginia.
In 2017, as a freshman at West Virginia, Manoah appeared in 19 games (ten starts), pitching to a 1-1 record with a 3.07 ERA, earning a spot on the Big 12 All-Freshman Team. As a sophomore in 2018, Manoah went 3-5 with a 4.00 ERA in 23 games (eight starts). He particularly struggled with command, posting a 1.50 WHIP. That summer, he pitched in the Cape Cod Baseball League for the Chatham Anglers where he went 4-3 with a 3.57 ERA in nine starts. Prior to the 2019 season, Manoah was named a preseason All-American by Baseball America. During the season, Manoah was named to the Golden Spikes Award watchlist along with unanimously being named the Big 12 Pitcher of the Year. At the time he received the award, he was 8-3 with a 1.91 ERA in 14 starts, striking out 125 batters in 94 innings. He finished his junior year with a 9-4 record and a 2.08 ERA over 16 starts, compiling 144 strikeouts over108 ⁄3 innings.
Manoah was considered one of the top prospects for the 2019 Major League Baseball draft. He was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays with the 11th overall pick. He signed for $4.55 million, and made his professional debut with the Vancouver Canadians on July 27, and spent the remainder of the season there. Over six starts, Manoah compiled a 2.65 ERA with 27 strikeouts over 17 innings.
Pitching style
Manoah features an upper 90s mph fastball, a low 90s mph cutter, and a slider that he learned from watching Dellin Betances on Rob Friedman's Twitter account.
Personal
Manoah's older brother, Erik, was drafted by the New York Mets in the 13th round of the 2014 MLB draft and currently plays for the Texas AirHogs of the American Association of Independent Professional Baseball.