The past two months have been a whirlwind for Alek Manoah, who has risen from the darling of Spring Training to a key piece of the Blue Jays’ rotation well ahead of schedule.

His past two starts, both against the Rays, offer up the perfect snapshot of his season. There will be learning experiences along the way, many of which he’s running into at the Major League level after throwing just 35 innings in the Minors, but Manoah’s upside is something that the Blue Jays need. Not tomorrow or next year, but right now, under the second-half spotlight of a postseason race.

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In Friday’s 7-1 loss to the Rays at Tropicana Field, Manoah wasn’t at his sharpest. The 23-year-old allowed three runs (two earned) over just 3 2/3 innings, running his pitch count up to 88 far too quickly. His strikeout pitch was still working -- he finished with nine -- but he didn’t have the same pinpoint stuff that he flashed last week against the Rays in the best outing of his young career. In that start, Manoah fanned 10 batters over seven shutout innings.

“They’re just a really good team,” Manoah said, looking back at his past two outings. “You’ve got to go out there and minimize mistakes. They’re the kind of team that, if you give them something, they take advantage of it. I’ve just got to continue to minimize those mistakes moving forward.”

That’s the Manoah that the Blue Jays need, regardless of how unfair it is to hoist such expectations upon someone of his experience. Toronto fully believes he’s capable of handling those expectations, and rightfully so. But Manoah is still very much a prospect, navigating the big leagues for the first time and rounding out the remaining rough edges of his game right in front of your eyes.

Manoah left Friday’s loss trailing 3-1, so while this wasn’t his best showing by any means, it was the Blue Jays’ bullpen that allowed the gap to widen. Anthony Castro allowed a pair of runs before Jacob Barnes did the same, struggling through the middle innings. That bullpen group is the club’s top priority heading into the July 30 Trade Deadline. And while rotation upgrades are always on the Blue Jays’ radar, they’re expecting Manoah to be part of the immediate solution.

Manoah said that he was “extremely upset” about taxing his bullpen, but manager Charlie Montoyo had his young starter’s back after the loss. The outcome wasn’t what anyone wanted, but Montoyo liked how Manoah kept attacking the zone with runners on base regardless of whether he had his best stuff.

“We have a chance to win when he takes the mound,” Montoyo said. “Today, if you look at the line, it doesn’t look that great, but man, he battles. He’s not scared. He goes after hitters. I like what he did today, even with the numbers. It was a bloop [two-run] single by [Austin] Meadows, too. He competes. I love Alek Manoah.”

With the All-Star break just around the corner, Manoah finally has a chance to catch his breath over the next week. He has been a constant source of momentum since the moment Spring Training opened in February, so a few quiet days might be a nice change of pace midway through his first Major League season.

“I’ll use those couple of days to regroup the body, get everything feeling good and work on a lot of dry work, a lot of mechanics,” Manoah said. “I’ll come back in that second half and minimize some of the mistakes, some of those balls that are just missing the plate by way too much.”

Hyun Jin Ryu is the ultimate known commodity, and Robbie Ray has put together a fantastic first half. Ross Stripling’s turnaround after a brutal start to the season has been admirable, and Manoah slots in right behind that group. Steven Matz and his 4.72 ERA might represent the No. 5 spot in the rotation for now. But while the left-hander has flashed his upside at several points this season, Manoah arrived in the big leagues riding a tidal wave of hype for a reason.

The All-Star break is an arbitrary midpoint. Manoah won’t return from the break as a 30-year-old with 1,000 MLB innings under his belt, but nobody is expecting him to. The 2.90 ERA he has posted over his first eight Major League starts would fit in this rotation wonderfully, and as he continues to develop on the fly, his performance should grow more consistent on a start-to-start basis.