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Three Key Things: Alek Manoah returns, bullpen woes continue as Blue Jays drop two of three to Washington

Originally posted on Bluejaysnation | By Evan Stack | Last updated 5/6/24

Make it four straight series losses for the Blue Jays after a tough three-game series defeat at the hands of the Washington Nationals this weekend. We welcomed back Alek Manoah, watched the lineup make some strides, and the bullpen…well…do the opposite in this version of Three Key Things.

Heck, we got to see some old Blue Jays legends in Jacob Barnes and Derek Law. Could you ask for more?

Death, taxes, and more Blue Jays lineup talk

While it sounds elementary (and almost sarcastic) to say that scoring more runs leads to more wins, that’s a good summation of what Blue Jays fans have been asking for since this season started. They had a good chance to get right on offence on Friday night against Patrick Corbin, a veteran lefty who has possessed an ERA over 5 and has led the MLB in losses in each of the past three seasons, but they were only able to scratch across three runs throughout the whole game.

Saturday and Sunday featured a different tune on offence, as the Blue Jays scored six and eight runs, respectively. Despite dropping the series finale, it’s safe to say that Saturday’s offensive output was the key cog to winning that game, and Sunday’s performance at the plate continued to trend in the right direction for many players. This weekend, Sportsnet‘s broadcast well-documented how scoring five or more runs could be a correlation to the team’s success; including this series, the Blue Jays are now 12-2 when scoring 5+ runs in a game, and they are 4-17 when they do not.

Aside from scoring more runs, Blue Jays faithful have also hoped for adjustments to the team’s batting order. They got their wish on Saturday as a couple of tweaks were made, including Daulton Varsho getting moved up to the second spot and Bo Bichette sliding down to fifth. George Springer stayed in the leadoff spot, and Danny Jansen, one of Toronto’s better hitters right now, was slotted in at seventh.

The Blue Jays were heavily aided by Washington’s inability to play any sort of defence for a lot of this weekend (see their 8 total errors throughout the weekend), but that doesn’t mean that Toronto had some notable offensive stat lines. Varsho posted a 4-for-13 line this weekend with two walks, two RBIs, and a double, raising his OPS to .989 since April 9th. Davis Schneider’s batting average is up to .270 after going 3-for-6 with two doubles and three walks, and he’s making more and more of a case of playing every day if he hadn’t already. At the very least, if they’re going to tinker with the lineup, Schneider deserves a shot in the top four.

Jansen (3-for-7, 2 2B, 2 BB) and Isiah Kiner Falefa (3-for-9, 3 RBIs) added to the fun, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. smoked a grand slam on Sunday afternoon. Guerrero, who is on an eight-game hitting streak, capitalized on a mistake pitch from Nationals starter Mackenzie Gore, a type of pitch that fans have seen him swing through several times this season.

District of DINGERS #PLAKATA pic.twitter.com/TQN9pz9Xfl

— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) May 5, 2024

Bichette (1-for-11) and Springer (2-for-14) continued to slump, and even after Saturday’s lineup change, Springer remained in the leadoff spot on Sunday, while Bichette moved up to fourth.

Another chapter in the Alek Manoah saga

Alek Manoah has become quite the ongoing story within the Blue Jays organization. He was summoned to the Major League mound for the first time since August 10th, 2023.

Although not the best team in the majors, the Nationals are an irritating lineup that predicates a lot of their offence on speed on the base paths. Furthermore, just one day prior to Manoah’s start, they had worked Kevin Gausman for 112 pitches in just 5.1 innings. Given that a couple of Manoah’s biggest problems from last season were command and finishing two-strike counts, this wasn’t going to be a walk in the park.

A Bichette fielding error on the first batter of the game complicated the opening frame for Manoah, who would follow that play with a strikeout, single, strikeout, walk, walk (run), and a third strikeout to end the inning. Control was still a work in progress, but Bichette’s error also didn’t help anything. He also had to throw 29 pitches in that inning, already putting him in danger of having a shorter outing.

Manoah cruised through a 15-pitch, three-up-three-down second inning with a groundout and two strikeouts. It was this group of matchups that we started seeing perfectly-placed backdoor sinkers to righties for strikeouts, as well as sliders that set up those sinkers nicely. Not only were the pitching and mechanics looking a lot better, but we were also seeing the presence and energy that many a Jays fan was reminiscing on. I’m talking about the strikeout strut with a straightening out of the jersey up near the shoulder and the skipping off the mound, just like in the clip below.

Alek Manoah's 4th and 5th Ks…

Thru 2. pic.twitter.com/xWKqY2uz1n

— Rob Friedman (@PitchingNinja) May 5, 2024

Manoah ran into a little more trouble in the third inning after striking out C.J. Abrams to open the frame. He allowed a solo home run to Luis Garcia Jr. but bounced back with his sixth strikeout of the game against Nick Senzel. A hit by pitch and a walk presented some traffic on the bases with two outs (was it even a Manoah outing without a HBP?), but the coaching staff stayed put, didn’t use a mound visit, and Manoah got out of the threat with a fly ball out.

Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worst in the fourth inning, as the Nationals worked Manoah with runners on second and third with two outs. He allowed two singles that led to a pair of runs, and he ultimately allowed a kill shot three-run home run to Jesse Winker to put Toronto behind 7-6. Manoah retired the next batter, but his day was done after four innings and 92 pitches. In total, he allowed six hits, six earned runs, four walks, and six strikeouts, however he was able to evade a decision.

To Manoah’s credit, his velocity wasn’t an issue. His sinker and slider averaged at 94.3 mph and 81.8 mph, respectively, very close to his ’22 figures. However, a glaring issue was his strike-to-ball ratio, as he threw 52 strikes versus 40 balls on the day.

The “ifs” from Manoah’s start wrote themselves — if Bichette fielded that ball cleanly if Manoah got one more out earlier in the fourth inning — but it is what it is. John Schneider said after the game that Manoah will remain in Toronto’s rotation, so he has another chance next weekend to work things out.

The bullpen — yikes!

One of Toronto’s greatest strengths last season was their bullpen, but that has not been the case to begin this season. This weekend, in particular, featured a couple of hurdles for Toronto as Chad Green remained on the Injured List, and Yimi Garcia missed all three games with back soreness. May the jokes about carrying the bullpen on his back commence.

Blue Jays relievers pitched a total of 9.2 innings this weekend, allowing 14 hits, 11 earned runs, 8 walks, and striking out only 7 batters. They played a part in letting Friday night’s game out of hand, letting Saturday’s game be closer than it needed to be, and not supporting the offence on Sunday afternoon. Nate Pearson (5.11 ERA), Genesis Cabrera (6.23), and Erik Swanson (16.50), amongst a couple of others, all had their fair share of issues this weekend.

This team is constructed heavily around run prevention, and while there are many other guys on this team who need to be better, the bullpen has members who are just as important.