Manoah's mechanics and mindset; Bass booed
Two pretty big stories emerged from an otherwise nondescript game between the Blue Jays and Brewers on Wednesday night.
At a cursory glance, the story of the Blue Jays’ 4-2 home loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night would probably not read very differently than the stories of many of the losses accrued in the month of May. A 1-for-12 night with runners in scoring position to punctuate their overall failure at the plate. An excellent start from an unheralded opposing starter — in this case Julio Teherán, who spent 2022 pitching in the Atlantic League and in Mexico. An 0-for-4 from Vlad less than 24 hours after a three-hit night offered hope that he might be turning a corner. Another Alek Manoah loss that the bullpen couldn't quite keep close enough to get to extra innings and maybe give the struggling batters a fighting chance.
I don’t always feel especially compelled to immediately rush to my computer and write about games like that, as regular readers will likely have noticed. But this was no ordinary, quickly forgotten setback in the course of an 162-game grind toward October. There are talking points from it that go beyond mere screaming about what on earth the Jays’ bench could have possibly been thinking by challenging a clear out call at third base on a double steal in the seventh1, or trying to remember if Joel Payamps was the Blue Jay who went to Kansas City in the Whit Merrifield trade and wondering how he’s managed to land with the Brewers2.
Since you’ve likely read the title of this post, I’m guessing you know what those talking points are.
So… uh… let’s talk about them!
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Alek Manoah
After Wednesday's game, reporters made it clear when tweeting out Alek Manoahs’ comments that the Jays’ young starter was a bit emotional about his recent struggles, but the look on his face when he was caught by Sportsnet's cameras after being told he wouldn't be going back out for a fifth inning of work had already just about said it all.
“The mindset of 'don't throw a ball here,' instead of, 'throw a strike right here,' it's a difference maker,” he explained. “And right now I'm just stuck in, 'don't throw a ball here.'”
Manoah made it through just four innings against a fairly limp Milwaukee lineup, and though he only managed to surrender two runs on three hits and three walks, it took him 89 pitches to get there. Trevor Richards needed to pitch two innings to clean up the mess. Adam Cimber handled four outs of his own. Hell, the Jays even allowed public enemy number one — reliever Anthony Bass (who we'll get to later) — to skulk out onto the field while being showered with boos, just to help save the better arms in their bullpen for another day.
There has been much talk recently about both Manoah’s mechanics and his mindset, because clearly neither is in a good place. The reaction to be being pulled, and his post-game comments make that plain when it comes to the mental aspect. On the mechanical front, Dominick Ricotta of Sports Info Solutions posted a great breakdown on Wednesday, in which he noted subtle differences between Manoah's delivery last year and this — which certainly looks noticeably more upright, and according to Ricotta is causing his arm to trail his lower half more than it should and affecting his shoulder tilt, among other things.
Frankly, I've already written a several thousand words today, so I'll leave you to check out his piece for yourself. But it's worth a read, even if we obviously always need to take these kinds of TV breakdowns with a grain of salt3.
Of course, you can also plainly see that Alek is having mechanical issues simply from his results — such as in the first inning against the Brewers, when he missed several times high and to the arm side with fastballs when facing left-handed hitters.
Sportsnet’s Joe Siddall noted several times on Wednesday night’s broadcast when Manoah appeared to miss his spots because his mechanics weren’t right. He referred on more than one occasion to the fact that opponents’ swings against Manoah just don’t look the same as they did last year, as though the ball wasn’t coming out of his hand in quite the same way — i.e. a critical element of deception remains missing.
We could see that, too, in the way he struggled to put batters away. Manoah threw 38 pitches in two-strike counts to Brewers hitters. He struck out two.
So what do the Jays do here?
I think that’s probably a harder question to answer than the many fans who are ready for a phantom injury and a trip to Buffalo would like to believe. He’s a young guy who hasn’t dealt with this kind of failure as a pro before — precisely because his talent allowed him to bypass the levels where those kinds of experiences are supposed to happen. He’s also very proud and competitive individual.
Perhaps he could use a little time away from the pressures of the big leagues to work on his mechanics and clear his head, but maybe he doesn’t handle a demotion very well. And maybe fluffing his confidence against minor leaguers for a couple weeks won’t do a whole lot once he steps back onto a big league mound again anyway.
What decides it for me is that, as bad as Manoah has been, I’m not even sure it’s the best baseball move for the club to have him to go away for a bit.
Bowden Francis is certainly an interesting story in the minors right now, just as he was during spring training. He’s increased his velocity and went into his own start on Wednesday with 22 Ks in 14 innings, just three walks, and a 1.93 ERA. I don’t think there’s anyone else who would make sense to potentially take Manoah’s spot at this point — and the fact that Francis just so happened to be pitching on the same night as Alek was did not go unnoticed by a number of fans. But the story of the new Francis is really only just a handful of innings old. He had a 6.59 ERA for the Bisons last season, and Wednesday's start — in which he gave up three runs on seven hits and a walk over 4 2/3 innings (4 Ks) — was just the sixth time since the start of 2022 that he pitched more than four innings.
Thing is, Manoah got through four non-disastrous innings against the Brewers, which is pretty much all the Jays would be asking of a guy like Francis anyway. The outing might not have even seemed so bad if his teammates had managed to score more than a single run in six inning against ca. 2023 Julio effing Teherán. He might have even been allowed to go back out for the fifth!
I’m not trying to be overly optimistic here, because it really was quite tough to watch at times. But only two runs! If he does a little better next time, you could almost imagine starting to believe that it won’t be so long before it starts seeming like he’s actually pulling out of it. Baby steps, I guess.
Anthony Bass
During Wednesday's game, Blue Jays fans made it clear as he made his way to the mound in the ninth inning that Anthony Bass and the Jays’ organization as a whole were not going to get away so easily with the tepid apology he made to “the Pride community” on Tuesday, but the look on his coaches faces when they were caught by Sportsnet's cameras while listening to boos rain down from the home crowd just about said it all.
Honestly, I didn’t really want to say a whole lot more about this Anthony Bass business than what I already wrote in my lengthy footnote in Wednesday afternoon’s piece, but what happened at the Rogers Centre on Wednesday night was just too funny, too big, and too surreal to ignore.
Bass was roundly booed by the home crowd when he entered the game, then booed again when he walked the first batter he faced — prompting pitching coach Pete Walker to immediately get Yimi Garcia up and warming, presumably just in case Bass was too shaken by the fans’ reaction to be able to do his job. It was maybe the coolest thing a Rogers Centre crowd has ever done. And it all played out underneath the CN Tower brightly flashing rainbow colours as the city gears up for Pride month.
Poetic!
Also: Loud.
The boos were extremely audible on the Sportsnet broadcast — which, to the producers’ credit, did nothing to try to suppress the sounds (and, in fact, opened the ninth inning with a shot of Bass against a crowd backdrop that not-so-subtly included a large Pride flag).
The volume of the crowd was noted several times during the exchange between Dan Shulman, Hazel Mae, and Joe Siddall at this point, which also covered the details of the situation.
HAZEL: Veteran reliever Anthony Bass making his first appearance since he publicly apologized for amplifying an anti-LGBTQ post on social media earlier this week. John Schneider said, 'Look, we're not going to pretend like it never happened. We're not going to pretend like it's the end and move on. There are definitely more steps that are going to follow.’ Now, in a brief statement yesterday, Bass said that with the organization's help he will better educate himself to make better decisions moving forward. Bass will not face any internal discipline, so, you certainly are hearing from the fan base their displeasure at seeing Bass on the mound. Dan.
DAN: Hazel, thank you. There's no question about that. You and I kind of looked at each other, Joe. And obviously as Bass was warming up in the 'pen and we knew he was coming in, we were wondering what the reaction would be like here at Rogers Centre, and it was noticeable. It was a fair bit of booing, as Anthony Bass was announced and came into the game. And, you know, as Hazel said, John Schneider has said this is not the only step. This is the first step. What those steps are, whether they'll be made public or kept internal, we don't know. But I'm sure fans at home can hear the noise behind us right now as Bass begins his outing.
JOE: And apparently by what John Schneider said, the steps that are in place, is that the Blue Jays will provide resources for Anthony to better educate himself.
DAN: Victor Caratini leading off the ninth. The Brewers up 4-2 on the Blue Jays. ... Just low, and it's three balls and a strike. ... John Schneider was the one who spoke to the media about this. As Hazel mentioned, as people know by now, Anthony Bass gave a very short statement. Did not take questions. And as we said last night, we don't know — we haven't been told — will that be forthcoming? Will tomorrow, or next week, or at any point, will Anthony Bass take questions about this? And, again, you can hear the booing. It is extremely noticeable here tonight. But John Schneider was the one who — he answered the questions. He was the face of the organization as people in the media were asking him about it, and he continued to say this is not a one step deal, this is process that Anthony Bass is going to have to work his way through. He apologized to his teammates. But it — and you can hear it here in the ballpark — it is still very much an issue for a lot of people in this fan base, and you can understand why.
To be clear here, and fair to Hazel, Dan, and Joe, the things they’re saying about “steps” and Bass educating himself aren’t their own words — it all comes from Bass’s statement and what little the Jays have said so far. To also be clear, that stuff sucks and many of these boos weren’t just for the player, but surely for the organization itself and their paint-by-numbers, hope-this-goes-away-quickly PR response.
He’s going to educate himself? Are we really doing this?
This isn’t some Bible Belt bumpkin who, aw shucks, just thought he was sharing some pious material in service of the Lord to his Instagram pals. Guy went to Wayne State! He’s literally friends with professional right-wing demagogue Tomi Lahren (aka Mrs. J.P. Arencibia). These people know exactly what they’re doing.
Of course, the bigger thing about the absurdity of the Jays’ response is that it only serves to highlight the way that they are letting him off the hook here. And the more you think about that, the more this unfolds, the dumber that kinda seems.
You’re telling me he has abhorrent politics, and is vocal about it, and pissed off a huge part of the fan base, and is forcing his manager and teammates to have to answer for him, and it was over him pushing a boycott of a major team sponsor, and it’s the second time in two months his social media use has created a negative national media story, and his velocity is down, and he’s, like, replacement level and your seventh reliever at this point?
Seems to me like a lot of strikes for a guy you only have to pay the final $2 million remaining on his deal to make go away. Ahh, but no, no, please, let’s hear more about these steps!
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Beats me! That was awful!
That was Max Castillo! Payamps was purchased by the Royals from the Jays in July 2021, ended up a waiver claim in Oakland last summer, then was part of the three-team Sean Murphy trade back in December.
Don’t forget that camera angles can change, that Manoah’s position on the mound has been changing a lot — as the author acknowledges in the piece — and that we’re really only seeing a tiny fraction of the pitches he’s thrown here!
How much do I love Joe Siddall in the booth?
The answer is lots...I love it lots.
That booing was hilarious. Keep it going Toronto, I want him booed right out of town.