He couldn’t be more different — Alek Manoah from Dave Stieb, from the late Roy Halladay, from the greatest starting pitchers ever developed by the Blue Jays.
He is nothing like the uber-intense Stieb, who came to the Jays at the age of 20 as an outfielder turned pitcher who had ridiculous talent. Stieb was known for the movement on his pitches and for the stare he might give an infielder or an outfielder who had made an error while he was on the mound. It was once said that Stieb would leave Major League Baseball with the same number of friends he started with — none. All he did was his job.
Halladay didn’t start the way Stieb did. He almost lost his career before his delivery was re-invented in the minor leagues. He wasn’t an instant success the way Manoah has been, but once he found his way the tightly wound and ultra-serious and singular Halladay had such a presence in his own clubhouse that even his teammates were intimidated by him.
The early numbers from Manoah’s first 38 big-league starts are quite similar to those of Stieb. Manoah has 19 career wins; Stieb had 17 with a lesser team back in the early ’80s. Stieb had an earned run average at a time when earned run averages were higher across the board. And Stieb threw 271 innings in his first 38 starts to the 226 Manoah has thrown in these protected pitching times.
The biggest difference, though, is personality. Halladay didn’t care to show any. Stieb was a fight waiting to happen most days he was on the mound and most days he was off of it. Manoah so much wants to be a face of the game, someone we talk about, someone we can trust. Being in on Manoah early is like being in on a great stock. He’s right where Stieb was at the early stages and ahead of where Halladay was in his early challenging years. Halladay went on to have eight great seasons with the Jays. Stieb had 12. The Jays would settle for either of those numbers now and in the future.
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