Manoah hits three batters in first spring outing

Toronto Blue Jays righty Alek Manoah hit three batters in his first spring outing on Tuesday against the Detroit Tigers.

Manoah, 26, went 1.2 innings as he looks to bounce back from a tumultuous 2023 season that saw him go from Opening Day starter to out of the rotation by the summer.

In his outing, Manoah surrendered four earned runs on three hits and walked one. He threw 17 of his 38 pitches for strikes and left the game with the team trailing 4-2.

An All-Star in 2022, Manoah went 3-9 in 19 starts with an earned run average of 5.87 and 1.740 WHIP over 87.1 innings pitched in 2023.

“I totally think the toughest part was that on our team we had probably the best starting pitchers and if I could have just been serviceable, I feel we could have gone a lot further, you know?,” Manoah said of his 2023 season to Postmedia’s Rob Longley on Monday. “At one point, these guys were throwing every four days and just piggybacking off of each other … that was the tough part. I wanted to be there helping those guys. For me I was just trying to find anything I could do to get back.”

The Blue Jays are set to open their 2024 regular season on Mar. 28 against the Tampa Bay Rays.