This story was excerpted from Keegan Matheson's Blue Jays Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

By the end of August, everyone’s tired. Everyone’s sore. Depending on the day, someone’s cranky.

The Blue Jays are 121 games into their season, where wins and losses are often decided not just by who’s better, but by who’s got something left in the tank.

It’s the daily games, of course, with off-days so rare along the way, but it’s also the lifestyle of a Major League Baseball team. Players live well on the road, of course, with chefs, nutritionists and nicer hotel rooms than you or I stay in, but the time spent living out of a suitcase wears on anyone. Especially starting pitchers.

After his recent start in New York, Kevin Gausman reflected on a velocity dip with the calm chuckle you’ll only hear from a veteran who’s been through this before.

“It’s August,” Gausman said. “Sometimes it takes a little bit. I never really look at velocity. Sometimes, I think they swing and miss more at 93 than they do at 96. It’s one thing I’ve noticed. If I could pick when to do that, it would be nice to know.”

Gausman sits second on the Blue Jays with 129 1/3 innings, and he’s coming off a career high of 192 frames last season with the Giants. Leading the Blue Jays, though, is The Big Man.

Alek Manoah has hauled 148 2/3 innings, giving him a good shot at being the first Blue Jays starter since Marcus Stroman (2017) to reach the 200-inning mark.

“That’s the biggest goal coming into every year,” Manoah said. “I want to be a consistent workhorse in that rotation, with the team knowing I’m going to go out there and give them a ton of innings. It might not be pretty every time, but I’m going to go out there and do everything I can to eat up innings, give the bullpen some rest and continue to be a workhorse.”

It’s been a learning process, though. Manoah’s first full MLB season has exceeded even the highest expectations, but you’ve seen a few outings recently where Manoah wasn’t the most dominant version of himself. This is what separates good pitchers from great ones, though. Great pitchers have a Plan B, C and D, and can get you out even if they’re not sharp.

“To not put too much pressure and energy on results is the biggest thing,” Manoah said. “You can give up a run, but that’s not the game, right? I continue to attack. That’s the biggest thing.”

That’s exactly what Manoah did in Sunday’s finale against the Yankees in New York. The Blue Jays took a 4-2 loss, but Manoah allowed just two runs (one earned) on four hits over six innings while striking out eight. He even made time to start a new beef with Yankees ace Gerrit Cole, who had the loudest reaction after Manoah hit Aaron Judge with a pitch.

Manoah has two fine models for workload management, though, in Gausman and José Berríos. He’s handling this first challenge exceedingly well, carrying a 2.66 ERA into late August.

This entire rotation is heating up at the right time, and you’re starting to see how good starting pitching -- like hitting -- can be contagious.

“I know it sounds bad to say, but we’re always trying to pitch better than the guy the night before,” Gausman said. “We try to use what he did well to our advantage. Obviously, my stuff compared to José Berríos is completely different, but I definitely take notes when he’s out there pitching. If they chase his changeup, I know they’re going to chase my split.”