'Workhorse' Manoah (7-1, 1.81 ERA) bona fide Cy Young contender

KANSAS CITY -- Alek Manoah’s starts have become comfort viewing.

We all have that one show. It’s the 10th re-watch of "The Office," a Food Network marathon or reliving a decade-old season of "Survivor" when you already know who wins. There’s a calm in the low stakes of knowing what will happen next. This is what it’s like to watch the Blue Jays play every fifth day in 2022.

Manoah’s start in Tuesday night’s 7-0 win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium had all the trademarks of his best episodes. There was just enough tension to give the six scoreless innings an edge of drama as Manoah always managed to make the right pitch at the right time.

It concluded with his seventh win of the season, of course, because that’s how most games end for the star sophomore, who’s now 16-3 in his career.

Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo always describes Manoah as having an “extra gear,” but where does that come from?

“From the transmission,” Manoah joked. “Guys get on base and I just get angry. I find a way to control that competitiveness, control that fire. I’m at my best when I do that.”

Combine talent, rare personal makeup and a feel for the moment, and you’re looking at a 24-year-old who’s already pitched himself to the top of the Blue Jays’ rotation alongside Kevin Gausman.

Manoah also is pitching his way into the American League Cy Young conversation.

With a 7-1 record and 1.81 ERA, Manoah is earning it. He’s still well behind Gausman, who leads all AL pitchers with 2.8 WAR, but Manoah feels like the type of pitcher who will plow forward as others falter. It’s odd to mention wins alongside a pitcher’s case in 2022, but if Manoah pushes past 15 wins -- which is entirely likely -- and pushes up towards 20, that still catches the odd voter’s eye.

“I just want to be a workhorse. That’s what I build everything around,” Manoah said, “going out there and eating a ton of innings, giving up no runs and letting that offense get hot. It’s just a blessing.”

Manoah knows he’s good, too. This shows itself in two ways, loud and quiet. At times, you’ll see him pounding his chest, chains bouncing off the logo of his jersey while he skips off the mound.

Other times, you’ll see something like Manoah’s strikeout of Andrew Benintendi in the sixth inning. With a 1-2 count, Manoah threw Benintendi a 93 mph sinker at the top edge of the zone. Before the home-plate umpire had a chance to make the strike three call, Manoah had already turned his back and taken a full stride back across the mound. He didn’t need anyone else to tell him what he already knew.

“He’s one of the best in the league right now,” Royals outfielder Kyle Isbel said. “He had a lot working for him tonight. Didn’t really miss over the plate much. Two-seam was running good, got a lot of lefties front hip. Slider kept people off-balance. He was running the heater to all quadrants of the zone. He was tough. That’s a good pitcher.”

Everything Isbel mentions is what makes Manoah good, but the mindset makes him great. Finding that balance between fire and calm has been difficult, but necessary to his success.​

“A lot of coaches in the process tried to calm me down,” Manoah said. “Coaches trying to calm me down made me not want to calm down, but then I was getting too aggressive and showing too much.

“I’m continuing to do a lot of meditation and stuff like that to control my mindset, control my thoughts and control my heart rate. When I’m ultra competitive and can still control it, that’s when I’m at my best.”

This is what makes Manoah so fascinating. Everything about him is a red flag for inconsistencies as a pitcher.

He’s a massive presence on the mound, which so often leads to long, slow or inconsistent deliveries. He’s the most outwardly passionate pitcher on the roster, too, which typically leads to peaks, valleys and ugly innings. Manoah avoids all of this, not just at a passable level, but an elite one.

The challenge still remains of facing difficult lineups a third and fourth time, but that hasn’t seemed to shake Manoah. Just ask the Yankees. Manoah has always believed that a longer look at the league gives him the advantage, not the hitter, which is the most accurate look you’ll ever get inside the mind of the Blue Jays’ newest pitching star.