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.

Up and down goes the Blue Jays’ season as they wrap up their road trip in Minneapolis and head east for some much-needed time at home.

In the meantime, here’s what’s on your mind:

As a follow up to your recent piece on Alek Manoah's struggles, any idea as to a 'why'/what's going on? — @TheDiablo27

The major flaw here is that Alek Manoah is not being aggressive enough and not in the zone enough. Compared to 2022:

• He’s in the zone less (49.7% to 44.6%)

• He’s getting hitters to chase less (30.9% to 25.9%)

• He’s getting fewer first-pitch strikes (61.8% to 54.1%)

I really believe that most of his further issues are related to these core ones. Manoah’s slider, for example, has been a problem. It’s not breaking as much as it was a year ago, but I’m not so sure this is a problem with the slider itself as much as it’s a problem with Manoah’s approach and the counts in which he finds himself.

When Manoah is down 3-1, he needs to be more careful with that slider and keep it in the zone. When he’s got the hitter 1-2, he can really let the slider eat with as much movement as he can produce. He said after his last outing that he was “trying to be too perfect”, and I agree with the big man. The answer is 0-1 counts.

Would it help to send Alek Manoah to Triple-A for a few weeks? — Everyone

This has been the question of the week. Let’s get the Roy Halladay comparison out of the way, first of all. Halladay’s demotion to rebuild himself early in his career isn’t a direct parallel, and since I wasn’t around to cover it, I don’t have a good enough feel for all of the factors involved.

Perhaps a better comp from my era on the beat is Teoscar Hernandez, who was demoted to Triple-A in the middle of 2019 to figure things out in an environment where it was safe to fail. The next two seasons? Silver Slugger Awards.

Frankly, I don’t see the pitching depth to allow this to happen even if it’s what the Blue Jays wanted. Zach Thompson, Drew Hutchison, Casey Lawrence and Yosver Zulueta haven’t done enough to give the Blue Jays an easy option at No. 6. Bowden Francis could soon be an option, but regardless, the Blue Jays need a more urgent fix to be found at the big-league level.

Why is the team not trying to change things up by changing their batting order, changing their pitching rotation to move Manoah out of the 1st spot, sitting a few guys to rest/reset, etc.? Basically trying something to get things back on track. — @mikecurt12

A rotation change would require a few days off in a row to reorganize without throwing someone’s schedule off kilter. That can’t happen until the All-Star break, unless we’re talking about flipping two starters by a single day.

I think you’ll start to see more lineup tinkering, though. Kevin Kiermaier having a career year in the ninth spot can’t last if Toronto’s struggles continue elsewhere. Daulton Varsho, in particular, has been moved around a bit lately as the Blue Jays try to get more out of him. When the talent is there and the results aren’t, little changes like that are worth a shot.

Too soon to make some trades to churn the bottom of the roster and/or bullpen? Can they turn guys like Cavan Biggio, Santiago Espinal and some Minor Leaguers into relievers or a starter? — @robert_leclerc

The same reason Blue Jays fans want to trade these players would be the same reasons an opposing GM says ‘no,’ unfortunately. Unless you’re trading for a similar player who needs a change of scenery, it’s hard to sell low, especially when the Blue Jays continue to believe that these two (especially Espinal) will bounce back.

This was supposed to be a deep, productive bench. It hasn’t been.

Why is Kiermaier so hot? No, seriously. He is actually the best hitter in the Jays’ lineup right now and that’s honestly concerning and confusing. He’s second in average, sixth in hits, first in triples, fourth in OPS? - Benjamin G. L.

It’s remarkable, and I predicted none of it.

The big one? He’s cut his strikeout rate down to just 18.8%, well below the 25-to-27% range he’s been in the past few years. A player with Kiermaier’s speed just needs to put the ball in play as much as possible, and we’re seeing the results.

He’s also crushing fastballs. Kiermaier is batting .417 against fastballs compared to .264 a year ago. That’s the sign of a confident hitter who is attacking pitches early. Kiermaier has been one of this front office’s best acquisitions of the past year, and has already produced more value than I expected. Full credit to him.