DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Alek Manoah has already proven, at 25, that he is one of the premiere pitchers in the sport. Now comes the hard part: repeating it.

There’s such a thrill to the rise of a top prospect, which began for Manoah in Spring Training of 2021. He entered camp with some hype, but not much more than a 50-50 shot at making his MLB debut that season. Then, he mowed through a Yankees lineup stacked with regulars. Twice.

In those back-to-back outings, Manoah threw five innings of one-hit ball and struck out 11. Less than a month later, he was dominating in the big leagues.

Manoah is no longer a surprise, though. He’s a giant with a personality to match, fresh off a 2.24 ERA that earned him a third-place finish in American League Cy Young Award voting. This is the type of pitcher that hitters go to great lengths to plan for, and it’s Manoah’s job to counterpunch. If he can repeat his ’22 season each year, he’ll be a bona fide superstar, but Manoah’s mind is still on what gets better next.

“Unless you go out and put up a 0.00 ERA with 31 wins, there’s areas to work on,” Manoah said Sunday. “For me, it was about how we can maximize all of my pitches, not just the ones that are already really good. We’re continuing to add to those and to my focus of backing up bases, getting over to cover, eliminating those free bases. It’s the really small things that, over the span of a Major League season, can add up and get magnified in the playoffs.”

This includes a far different approach from the one you would have seen from Manoah in ’21.

Back then, at 23, Manoah had to kick the door down. That meant performing, even though the calendar still read ‘March.’

“When you’re trying to make the club, everything is result-based,” Manoah said. “You have to go get a bunch of outs. Now, for everybody here, let’s just go get work. Let’s build the arms up and the innings up. Let’s get the work in, get the pitches in, get a feel for your body and your mechanics.”

Around camp, we’re also seeing Manoah’s energy in new ways.

When fellow starters like Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt or José Berríos are throwing a side session, Manoah is seated right behind them. He wants to understand what they’re thinking from the ground up, so that if a teammate struggles in April or September he has a fuller understanding of how to help them.

He’s also setting the tone on the field. As pitchers went through fielding drills Sunday -- typically one of the dullest Spring Training exercises one could imagine -- it was Manoah running at full tilt, trying to keep the energy up.

“Confidence is never an issue with him,” said manager John Schneider. “It’s just about being a little more well-versed in his routines. He’s speaking up more and taking a bit more of a leadership role, which is great. He’s a big part of what we do. You see his personality. He embraces the fact that he had a really good year last year and the guys are going to gravitate towards him.”

There will be small focuses too, of course. Manoah wants to limit the number of batters he hits after plunking 15 last season and 16 the year prior. If that number cuts in half, there’s surely a run or two saved along the way. There will be some adjustments needed with the new pitch timer, too, given that Manoah is typically slow between pitches.

To that challenge, though, he has the same mindset he took to the idea of a “sophomore slump.”

That’s their problem, not his.

“I think I’m going to use it to my advantage,” Manoah said. “I’ll be able to get into a really good rhythm and be on my own time. Last year, I pitched at my own pace. Now MLB has us on a different pace, but that’s still going to be my pace. That’s the goal, to go out there and use that to my advantage and put the pressure on the hitters.”

So far, that’s all Manoah has done. It’s difficult to improve on what he did one year ago, but if you’re in the business of betting against Manoah, good luck.