The demotion that would have been unimaginable 12 months ago took place shortly after noon on Tuesday afternoon, unfolding in the tidy digs that are the Rogers Centre office of Blue Jays manager John Schneider.
Yes, Alek Manoah didn’t take word that he was being optioned to the Florida Complex League well, as you would expect of the defiant and driven Jays starter.
After 13 mostly miserable starts, the Jays did what was increasingly becoming inevitable and left two giant questions in the crater of Manoah’s departure.
And second: How in the world did the Jays get to a place where the organization has such meagre starting pitching depth, a dearth that could compromise their season of large expectations?
But first to Manoah, who following Monday’s one-out outing against the Astros — the shortest of his big-league career — vowed that he would make his next scheduled start this weekend.
“He was upset because of the competitor that he is,” Schneider said of what had to be an uneasy conversation to have, one made alongside pitching coach Pete Walker but absent general manager Ross Atkins.
“It wasn’t an easy conversation. He understands that the performance hasn’t really been there and wants to really be in a position to help the team win.
“He took it about as good as he could take it.”
Which is to say, not well.
And perhaps that fire will be what gets him back to the bigs sooner and, in the opinion of one of his teammates, perhaps even better than ever.
“The way that guy competes is like nobody I’ve ever seen,” relief pitcher Adam Cimber told the Toronto Sun. “Even when he’s out there and he doesn’t have his best stuff, he competes.
“He’ll take this for what it is and it will probably put a chip on his shoulder. I think that’s when he’s at his best.”
Which is not where he’s been of late. The once unmistakable confidence that translated into Manoah’s often lethal attacking of the strike zone had been replaced by a tentativeness borne out of what has to be considered an erosion of confidence.
Rather than send him to pitch at triple-A, the Jays opted for the laboratory of their Dunedin spring headquarters where he will be poked, prodded and collaborated upon — to use the organization’s buzzword — until he figures it out.
Will it be days? Weeks? Months? Nobody is saying because nobody knows, but Schneider made it clear that it won’t be until he can return and be the force that helped him to a breakout all-star season in 2022.
Perhaps telling was Schneider essentially admitting that the move was coming — especially absent any upturn in Manoah’s lagging form, which began on opening day and never truly eased.
“It’s not a knee-jerk reaction,” Schneider said in his game-day meeting with the media while the Manoah news beamed on the mammoth TVs in the room as it was dissected on MLB Network’s Off Base. “We want to make sure we are doing everything we can do to get better and feel that this is the proper initial step.”
Schneider said that Manoah will work alongside many Jays staffers with Walker and assistant pitching coach Jeff Ware monitoring the progress via video.
If there’s concern, it’s that there is no set timeline for a return and worse for an under-achieving team, there is no viable organizational answer for the fifth spot in the rotation.
Until Tuesday, Schneider was saying what one does of the Manoah mess, with an almost wishful-thinking narrative that things would get better on their own. But with a 1-7 record and form that was getting worse, the eyes knew better and the potential solution became more obvious by the outing.
“He’s been grinding for a while now,” Cimber said. “So going down there can be a good thing. I don’t think any player would say getting optioned is a good thing for them, in the moment at least.
“But a year from now, he’ll look back and say he made the best of the situation. I have no doubt he’ll get to work down there and figure it out. He’s too big of a competitor to let this hold him down.”
Knowing Manoah as we have since his rookie years in the pros with the Vancouver Canadians, we wouldn’t bet against it. The Jays are left to make the same wager — and much of their season’s fortunes may rely upon it cashing.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic fell 6-4, 6-3 to Poland’s Magdalena Frech in the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open tennis tournament on Friday.
The 19-year-old from Mississauga, Ont., won 61 per cent of her first-serve points and broke on just one of her six opportunities.
Stakusic had upset top-seeded Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) on Thursday night to advance.
In the opening round, Stakusic defeated Slovakia’s Anna Karolína Schmiedlová 6-2, 6-4 on Tuesday.
The fifth-seeded Frech won 62 per cent of her first-serve points and converted on three of her nine break point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
TORONTO – Alejandro Kirk’s long single with the bases loaded provided the Toronto Blue Jays with a walk-off 4-3 win in the 11th inning of their series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.
With the Cardinals outfield in, Kirk drove a shot off the base of the left-field wall to give the Blue Jays (70-78) their fourth win in 11 outings and halt the Cardinals’ (74-73) two-game win streak before 30,380 at Rogers Centre.
Kirk enjoyed a two-hit, two-RBI outing.
Erik Swanson (2-2) pitched a perfect 11th inning for the win, while Cardinals reliever Ryan Fernandez (1-5) took the loss.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman enjoyed a seven-inning, 104-pitch outing. He surrendered his two runs on nine hits and two walks and fanned only two Cardinals.
He gave way to reliever Genesis Cabrera, who gave up a one-out homer to Thomas Saggese, his first in 2024, that tied the game in the eighth.
The Cardinals started swiftly with four straight singles to open the game. But they exited the first inning with only two runs on an RBI single to centre from Nolan Arendao and a fielder’s choice from Saggese.
Gausman required 28 pitches to escape the first inning but settled down to allow his teammates to snatch the lead in the fourth.
He also deftly pitched out of threats from the visitors in the fifth, sixth and seventh thanks to some solid defence, including Will Wagner’s diving stop, which led to a double play to end the fifth inning.
George Springer led off with a walk and stole second base. He advanced to third on Nathan Lukes’s single and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. knocked in his 95th run with a double off the left-field wall.
Lukes scored on a sacrifice fly to left field from Spencer Horwitz. Guerrero touched home on Kirk’s two-out single to right.
In the ninth, Guerrero made a critical diving catch on an Arenado grounder to throw out the Cardinals’ infielder, with reliever Tommy Nance covering first. The defensive gem ended the inning with a runner on second base.
St. Louis starter Erick Fedde faced the minimum night batters in the first three innings thanks to a pair of double plays. He lasted five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.
ON DECK
Toronto ace Jose Berrios (15-9) will start the second of the three-game series on Saturday. He has a six-game win streak.
The Cardinals will counter with righty Kyle Gibson (8-6).
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
CALGARY – Mired in their first four-game losing skid in 20 years, the Calgary Stampeders are going back to Jake Maier at quarterback on Saturday after he was benched for a game.
It won’t be an easy assignment.
Visiting McMahon Stadium are the Eastern Conference-leading Montreal Alouettes (10-2) who own the CFL’s best record. The Stampeders (4-8) have fallen to last in the Western Conference.
“Six games is plenty of time, but also it is just six games,” said Maier. “We’ve got to be able to get on the right track.”
Calgary is in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since 2004.
“I do still believe in this team,” said Stampeders’ head coach and general manager Dave Dickenson. “I want to see improvement, though. I want to see guys on a weekly basis elevating their game, and we haven’t been doing that.”
Maier is one of the guys under the microscope. Two weeks ago, the second-year starter threw four interceptions in a 35-20 home loss to the Edmonton Elks.
After his replacement, rookie Logan Bonner, threw five picks in last week’s 37-16 loss to the Elks in Edmonton, the football is back in Maier’s hands.
“Any time you fail or something doesn’t go your way in life, does it stink in the moment? Yeah. But then the days go on and you learn things about yourself and you learn how to prepare a little bit better,” said Maier. “It makes you mentally tougher.”
Dickenson wants to see his quarterback making better decisions with the football.
“Things are going to happen, interceptions will happen, but try to take calculated risks, rather than just putting the ball up there and hoping that we catch it,” said Dickenson.
A former quarterback himself, he knows the importance of that vital position.
“You cannot win without good quarterback play,” Dickenson said. “You’ve got to be able to make some plays — off-schedule plays, move-around plays, plays that break down, plays that aren’t designed perfectly, but somehow you found the right guy, and then those big throws where you’re taking that hit.”
But it’s going to take a team effort, and that includes the club’s receiving corp.
“We always have to band together because we need everything to go right for our receivers to get the ball,” said Nik Lewis, the Stampeders’ receivers coach. “The running back has to pick up the blitz, the o-line has to block, the quarterback has to make the right reads, and then give us a catchable ball.”
Lewis brings a unique perspective to this season’s frustrations as he was a 22-year-old rookie in Calgary in 2004 when the Stamps went 4-14 under coach Matt Dunigan. They turned it around the next season and haven’t missed the playoffs since.”
“Thinking back and just looking at it, there’s just got to be an ultimate belief that you can get it done. Look at Montreal, they were 6-7 last year and they’ve gone 18-2 since then,” said Lewis.
Montreal is also looking to rebound from a 37-23 loss to the B.C. Lions last week. But for head coach Jason Maas, he says his team’s mindset doesn’t change, regardless of what happened the previous week.
“Last year when we went through a four-game losing streak, you couldn’t tell if we were on a four-game winning streak or a four-game losing streak by the way the guys were in the building, the way we prepared, the type of work ethic we have,” said Maas. “All our standards are set, so that’s all we focus on.”
While they may have already clinched a playoff spot, Alouettes’ quarterback Cody Fajardo says this closing stretch remains critical because they want to finish the season strong, just like last year when they won their final five regular-season games before ultimately winning the Grey Cup.
“It doesn’t matter about what you do at the beginning of the year,” said Fajardo. “All that matters is how you end the year and how well you’re playing going into the playoffs so that’s what these games are about.”
The Alouettes’ are kicking off a three-game road stretch, one Fajardo looks forward to.
“You understand what kind of team you have when you play on the road because it’s us versus the world mentality and you can feel everybody against you,” said Fajardo. “Plus, I always tend to find more joy in silencing thousands of people than bringing thousands of people to their feet.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
Kirk’s walk-off single in 11th inning lifts Blue Jays past Cardinals 4-3
Canada’s Marina Stakusic falls in Guadalajara Open quarterfinals
Stampeders return to Maier at QB eyeing chance to get on track against Alouettes
Metro Vancouver’s HandyDART strike continues after talks break with no deal
26-year-old son is accused of his father’s murder on B.C.’s Sunshine Coast
k.d. lang gets the band back together for Canadian country music awards show
Longtime PC MPP Lisa MacLeod announces she will not seek re-election
RCMP arrest second suspect in deadly shooting east of Calgary
