NYH
Alek Manoah, P
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Scouting report
Manoah is a big-bodied late bloomer from South Florida who wasn't a top notch recruit out of high school, but developed into an elite prospect throughout his sophomore year in Morgantown. Once softer and relatively unathletic, he's transformed himself from a high-effort relief type into a potential workhorse mid-rotation starter. Manoah still leads with his fastball/slider combo, and remains hulking and somewhat stiff-looking. That power fastball/slider approach to pitching and the Sal Romano body comp creates an air of bullpen risk, but that was the case with Nate Pearson once upon a time, and isn't anymore. Manoah can back foot his slider against lefties and his changeup flashed average in college, so he has a foundation of platoon-fighting weapons at his disposal, and changeup development was the focal point of his alternate site activity. He showed no ill effects from a big innings increase from 2018 to 2019 and was still 93-96 with his heater late in the summer after he signed; he continued to pitch in the mid-90s during the summer of 2020. Changeup and command consistency will reinforce the mid-rotation forecast, which is currently a right-tail outcome rather than the likeliest one, making those the things to look for when he pitches in 2021. (Alternate site)