Manoah is the Jays’ MVP and top pitcher, players say
For a couple of decades now, at the conclusion of every Blue Jays season, I’ve spoken to each player, everyone on the coaching staff and a few members of the front office to get their anonymous votes for endof-season awards.
Votes are requested for four awards: most valuable player, pitcher of the year, rookie of the year and unsung hero, a distinction described to the electorate as the person who does the most but gets the least attention for it. There’s no actual hardware, though …
“I think you do need to invest in some hardware,” Jays starter Ross Stripling said on this week’s episode of the Star’s “Deep Left Field” podcast, which features interviews with all the winners. “Something that we can put in our lockers and show off. It’s cool that everyone votes and it’s awesome to get recognized by your teammates, for sure.”
As they always have, the voters took their task seriously. This year was far more difficult than most, at least for naming the most valuable player, because so many players made significant contributions and because no one offensive player stood head and shoulders above the rest. Eight different players got votes for MVP.
The rookie was a difficult choice as well. Of the nine players who qualified for rookie status on the Jays this year, none really made a significant contribution. Maximo Castillo, traded to Kansas City at the deadline in the Whit Merrifield deal, led all Jays rookie pitchers with 20 2⁄3innings. Gabriel Moreno had more than twice as many atbats as all the other rookie position players combined, and he didn’t break 70. I allowed John Schneider to be considered a rookie, as he took over from Charlie Montoyo as manager in July.
Some of the numbers are weird because a few players genuinely couldn’t decide, so they passed on a category or two, and some chose to split their vote among two candidates. Here are the results:
MVP and pitcher of the year: Alek Manoah
It was no surprise that the young man who emerged as the Jays’ ace and as one of the best starting pitchers in baseball got the nod from his peers as pitcher of the year. Manoah’s 35 1⁄ votes blew away 2 second-place finisher Jordan Romano’s six. The MVP vote was closer, with Manoah getting 13 votes and runner-up Matt Chapman getting 7 1⁄2. Alejandro Kirk finished third, followed by Bo Bichette and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.
The 24-year-old Manoah, in his first full season in the majors, led the team with 16 wins, a 2.24 ERA that was fourth in the big leagues, and196 2⁄3innings, 85 more than he threw last season.
He pitched a shutout inning in the all-star game, entertaining a TV audience as he did it, and he saved his best for when it mattered the most: Manoah’s 0.88 ERA in September was the lowest in any month in Jays history. He will start the first postseason game to be played in Toronto since 2016.
“Never pitched in a big playoff game before,” Manoah said. “But I take every outing like it’s a massive outing, like it’s the biggest game of the year, so nothing will really change in the preparation or the routine going into that game. Just excited to take that mound and hear 50,000 Canadians going crazy.”
Rookie of the year: John Schneider
The baseball lifer took over from Montoyo on July 13, with the Jays having lost nine of 11 games, and changed the tone around the club. The Jays won12 of the first14 games under Schneider and had the thirdbest record in the league after his promotion.
Schneider was drafted by the Blue Jays in 2002 and has played, coached or managed in the organization ever since. He joined the big club as a major-league coach in 2019 and started this season as the bench coach. Previously, he won championships with Vancouver, Dunedin and New Hampshire, the last two with a group that included Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Bo Bichette, Jordan Romano, Cavan Biggio and Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
“It’s cool. It’s very unique and it has made the transition a lot easier for me,” Schneider said. “I think that guys are familiar with how I operate. Knowing the guys when they were young and going through a lot of ups and downs in the minor leagues — as well as in the big leagues — has made everything a little bit easier for not just them but for me as well.”
Unsung hero: Ross Stripling
“When (Hyun-Jin) Ryu went down, (Stripling) understood that this team needed him to be more than just a bullpen arm,” Manoah said. “They needed him to be a starter and he took over that role really amazingly, being one of our best guys. He’s great in the clubhouse with all the guys, he’s definitely one of our veteran leaders, and being able to see him go from role to role and adapt — not care about a role, just care about helping the team win and being a good teammate all through it — he’s been amazing.”
Stripling, who also received votes for pitcher of the year and MVP, set career bests in starts (24), innings pitched (132 1⁄3), wins (10), ERA (3.01) and WHIP (1.020). He was a rock for the starting rotation in a year when they absolutely needed one, with the injury to Ryu and the struggles of Yusei Kikuchi and Mitch White.
“Yeah, I’m a little bit surprised,” Stripling said. “I’ve had success at the big-league level, but as a Blue Jay I’ve had a lot of ups and downs. This is the AL East, this is the hardest division by far. I went from facing the pitcher to facing the likes of Giancarlo Stanton, J.D. Martinez — some of the best power hitters in the world — and it was a learning curve. I’m not all of a sudden thinking I’m Jacob deGrom over here, but I feel good about where I’m at.”
Since moving into the rotation for good on June 6, Stripling has allowed as many as three runs in only four of his 19 starts.