Manoah aiming for sophomore surge

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Alek Manoah and José Berríos had two entirely different MLB debuts.

Berríos, the Blue Jays’ ace and Opening Day starter, stumbled his way to an 8.02 ERA over 14 starts in 2016 as a 22-year-old. Manoah, on the other hand, skyrocketed from camp curiosity to big leaguer last spring, posting a 3.22 ERA at 23.

Manoah wants these two different paths to lead to the same place, bucking a sophomore slump for a sophomore surge, and Berríos believes he will.

“I say he can be better. For example, my first year was really bad,” Berríos said Thursday. “I felt like I can’t pitch at this level. Then I came the next year in 2017 and established myself. We have to make adjustments every day. Baseball is so hard. We can’t think we are Superman and superheroes. We have to come in every day, try to get better and grind.”

Manoah threw 52 pitches over four innings in Thursday’s 5-3 win over the Tigers, allowing just one hit while striking out three. Since this time last spring, Manoah has risen to every challenge put in front of him and looked oddly comfortable with each step.

“His confidence is amazing,” Berríos said. “He has great confidence in himself. He works, so he knows that he can go out there and do well. That’s why he has that mindset. His ability, he has great skill, he’s a huge guy and throws hard. He brings a lot of confidence every five days when he goes to the mound.”

This season, though, hitters will be expecting Manoah. He’s no longer the hot new prospect or a secret.

Manoah is built for power, built like an NFL left tackle who just happens to pump a 96 mph fastball, so his next focus is rounding out that repertoire. His fastball and slider work great in short stints, but he has a heavy workload in mind, which will require one key area of development.

“It’s definitely the development of the changeup and mixing everything in,'' Manoah said. “Sometimes, I tend to get a little comfortable with my heater and throw it a lot, so they know what’s coming. I want to keep hitters off balance the whole year. That’s the biggest thing.”

New lineup gives Guerrero more opportunities
The Blue Jays’ lineup took on a different look in Thursday’s Grapefruit League game against the Tigers. Spring Training lineup changes are only noteworthy one out of every 100 times, but this might be that one time with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. sliding into the No. 2 spot, which he only did 18 times in ’21. This might stick.

“Usually MVPs hit No. 2,” manager Charlie Montoyo said. “He’s going to get 20 extra at-bats. We’ll see how it goes, but I don’t mind having him two, three or four.”

Behind George Springer and Guerrero, Montoyo had Teoscar Hernández hitting third with Bo Bichette batting cleanup. This slid Matt Chapman down to seventh, behind Alejandro Kirk and Lourdes Gurriel Jr.

“I usually like [a consistent lineup], but there’s always a chance that I could change it,” Montoyo said. “There’s a team not too far from here, the Rays, who have 150,000 lineups and they do pretty well.”

Flashes of Merryweather
For one week in early ’21, Julian Merryweather looked untouchable, pumping 100-mph heat past the Yankees and Angels. Then, another injury knocked him out for nearly five months.

Thursday in Dunedin, Merryweather was back to showing glimpses of that, topping out at 98.9 mph and forcing eight swinging strikes on 24 pitches. The right-hander gave up a pair of hits and then a home run when he came back out for a second frame, but his stuff looked much closer to that incredible start from ’21. It’s a big if, but if Merryweather can stay healthy and pitch consistently, his ceiling is still very enticing.