Photo by: All Pro Photography/Dale Sparks
Manoah Looking to Capitalize on Cape Cod League Success in 2019
February 11, 2019 04:19 PM | Baseball
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – Former West Virginia University standouts Chris Enochs and Jedd Gyorko parlayed their Cape Cod League success into outstanding junior seasons and high selections in the Major League Baseball Draft.
Veteran Mountaineer baseball coach Randy Mazey is hopeful junior righthander Alek Manoah can do something similar this year after his outstanding summer in the Cape.
The Miami native posted a 4-3 record with 68 strikeouts and a 3.57 earned run average in 45.1 innings for the Chatham Anglers. He pitched into the sixth inning four times and had a season-high 12 strikeouts against Yarmouth-Dennis.
Twice, Manoah had 11-strikeout performances against Harwich.
"Scouts have been watching Manoah closely since he was in high school in South Florida," Baseball America's Teddy Cahill wrote last summer. "He's always stood out for his size – he's listed at 6-foot-7, 270 pounds – and his powerful fastball, but he's put everything together this summer after a pair of pedestrian seasons at West Virginia."
Manoah went 3-5 in 23 appearances last year for the Mountaineers with 60 strikeouts and a 4.00 earned run average in 54 innings. In two full seasons at WVU, his record is an unexceptional 4-6 with 105 strikeouts and 61 walks in 109.2 innings.
Obviously, the free passes have been Manoah's biggest issue. Up in the Cape, he walked just 14 in roughly the same number of innings he pitched last spring for the Mountaineers.
"He's been really good so far, knock on whatever I want to knock on," Mazey said before last Saturday's practice. "I think he made a decision this summer that he's going to get really serious about playing this game for a living, and I think the results have showed."
Manoah comfortably throws in the mid-90s with a sharp slider. Some scouts want to see him develop a reliable third pitch, and Mazey believes Manoah can.
"He's got all three pitches going right now," the veteran coach said. "He has command of all three pitches. The stuff is off the charts. He throws really hard. He has a great changeup and a great slider, and he's kind of put it all together.
"He's always had them," Mazey added. "He was a super-talented kid coming out of high school. He just had to make that decision that he wanted to be good and once you make that decision and take pride in it then your actions follow."
Mazey credits Manoah's hard work getting himself into better shape for his improved performance.
"He's cleaned up his body," Mazey said. "That's the first thing he had to do, and he couldn't do that until he made a decision to clean up his body like we all try and do every day."
Manoah pitched into the eighth inning just once last year against Oklahoma (a 3-1 Mountaineer loss) and he got through six inning one other time against Maryland, also a loss.
He had a season-high seven strikeouts in a 4-3 win over Gardner-Webb on May 14, throwing a season-high 105 pitches that day.
"He's going to have to be a workhorse for us and go out and give us 100, 120 pitches every time out," Mazey noted.
If Manoah can do that, he's certain to be one of the highest drafted players in school history.
The college baseball website D1Baseball.com lists Manoah as the ninth-best pro prospect in college baseball, one spot behind TCU lefthanded pitcher Nick Lodolo.
Baylor catcher Shea Langeliers (No. 3) and Texas Tech third baseman Josh Jung (No. 5) are also on the list.
The Atlanta Braves' SB Nation website "Talking Chop" wrote of Manoah, "(Two) potential plus pitches in a mid-90s fastball and slider combo. What's holding Manoah back is a third pitch. (In 2018), Manoah made eight starts and 15 relief appearances (at WVU). He simply hasn't really utilized a change-up, and that will have to be something he addresses if he wants to be a full-time starter."
It concluded by predicting a "possible breakout year for the 2019 season" for Manoah.
Mazey, who is once again handling the Mountaineer pitchers, said he's done very little mechanically with Manoah so far this spring.
"Bits and pieces, but I'm here to not screw them up at this point," he said. "I just keep him in line when he starts to get a little bit of fatigue or losing his direction a little bit. I'm not going to change a guy that doesn't need changing."
Manoah's first two seasons at West Virginia have really mirrored Enochs' first year at WVU in 1995.
Like Manoah, Enochs was once a hard-throwing, late-round draft choice coming out of high school with command issues who needed to develop a secondary pitch. His first season at West Virginia saw him post a 1-5 record with a 10.80 earned run average in 35 innings.
Then, Enochs developed a change-up during his sophomore season, which led to an 8-4 record in 1996 and a 12-1 mark in 1997 before being taken 11thoverall by the Oakland A's.
And like Manoah, Enochs got himself into better shape, which helped his performance for the remainder of his Mountaineer career.
This year, Manoah is probably West Virginia's most touted pitching prospect since Enochs. Manoah was recently named to Baseball America's preseason All-America second team, WVU's eighth preseason All-America choice and its first since 2014.
He was also named to USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list.
Major League scouts will undoubtedly be keeping close tabs on Manoah throughout the spring, beginning this weekend when West Virginia opens the 2019 season in Georgia.
The Mountaineers will take on Kennesaw State in Kennesaw, Georgia, on Friday at 4 p.m. before traveling to Atlanta to play one game against Georgia State on Saturday and then one game against Georgia Tech on Sunday.
First pitch for Saturday's game is 2 p.m. while Sunday's matchup against the Yellow Jackets will get underway at 1 p.m. and will be televised on the ACC Network Extra.
Veteran Mountaineer baseball coach Randy Mazey is hopeful junior righthander Alek Manoah can do something similar this year after his outstanding summer in the Cape.
The Miami native posted a 4-3 record with 68 strikeouts and a 3.57 earned run average in 45.1 innings for the Chatham Anglers. He pitched into the sixth inning four times and had a season-high 12 strikeouts against Yarmouth-Dennis.
Twice, Manoah had 11-strikeout performances against Harwich.
"Scouts have been watching Manoah closely since he was in high school in South Florida," Baseball America's Teddy Cahill wrote last summer. "He's always stood out for his size – he's listed at 6-foot-7, 270 pounds – and his powerful fastball, but he's put everything together this summer after a pair of pedestrian seasons at West Virginia."
Manoah went 3-5 in 23 appearances last year for the Mountaineers with 60 strikeouts and a 4.00 earned run average in 54 innings. In two full seasons at WVU, his record is an unexceptional 4-6 with 105 strikeouts and 61 walks in 109.2 innings.
Obviously, the free passes have been Manoah's biggest issue. Up in the Cape, he walked just 14 in roughly the same number of innings he pitched last spring for the Mountaineers.
"He's been really good so far, knock on whatever I want to knock on," Mazey said before last Saturday's practice. "I think he made a decision this summer that he's going to get really serious about playing this game for a living, and I think the results have showed."
Manoah comfortably throws in the mid-90s with a sharp slider. Some scouts want to see him develop a reliable third pitch, and Mazey believes Manoah can.
"He's got all three pitches going right now," the veteran coach said. "He has command of all three pitches. The stuff is off the charts. He throws really hard. He has a great changeup and a great slider, and he's kind of put it all together.
"He's always had them," Mazey added. "He was a super-talented kid coming out of high school. He just had to make that decision that he wanted to be good and once you make that decision and take pride in it then your actions follow."
Mazey credits Manoah's hard work getting himself into better shape for his improved performance.
"He's cleaned up his body," Mazey said. "That's the first thing he had to do, and he couldn't do that until he made a decision to clean up his body like we all try and do every day."
Manoah pitched into the eighth inning just once last year against Oklahoma (a 3-1 Mountaineer loss) and he got through six inning one other time against Maryland, also a loss.
He had a season-high seven strikeouts in a 4-3 win over Gardner-Webb on May 14, throwing a season-high 105 pitches that day.
"He's going to have to be a workhorse for us and go out and give us 100, 120 pitches every time out," Mazey noted.
If Manoah can do that, he's certain to be one of the highest drafted players in school history.
The college baseball website D1Baseball.com lists Manoah as the ninth-best pro prospect in college baseball, one spot behind TCU lefthanded pitcher Nick Lodolo.
Baylor catcher Shea Langeliers (No. 3) and Texas Tech third baseman Josh Jung (No. 5) are also on the list.
The Atlanta Braves' SB Nation website "Talking Chop" wrote of Manoah, "(Two) potential plus pitches in a mid-90s fastball and slider combo. What's holding Manoah back is a third pitch. (In 2018), Manoah made eight starts and 15 relief appearances (at WVU). He simply hasn't really utilized a change-up, and that will have to be something he addresses if he wants to be a full-time starter."
It concluded by predicting a "possible breakout year for the 2019 season" for Manoah.
Mazey, who is once again handling the Mountaineer pitchers, said he's done very little mechanically with Manoah so far this spring.
"Bits and pieces, but I'm here to not screw them up at this point," he said. "I just keep him in line when he starts to get a little bit of fatigue or losing his direction a little bit. I'm not going to change a guy that doesn't need changing."
Manoah's first two seasons at West Virginia have really mirrored Enochs' first year at WVU in 1995.
Like Manoah, Enochs was once a hard-throwing, late-round draft choice coming out of high school with command issues who needed to develop a secondary pitch. His first season at West Virginia saw him post a 1-5 record with a 10.80 earned run average in 35 innings.
Then, Enochs developed a change-up during his sophomore season, which led to an 8-4 record in 1996 and a 12-1 mark in 1997 before being taken 11thoverall by the Oakland A's.
And like Manoah, Enochs got himself into better shape, which helped his performance for the remainder of his Mountaineer career.
This year, Manoah is probably West Virginia's most touted pitching prospect since Enochs. Manoah was recently named to Baseball America's preseason All-America second team, WVU's eighth preseason All-America choice and its first since 2014.
He was also named to USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list.
Major League scouts will undoubtedly be keeping close tabs on Manoah throughout the spring, beginning this weekend when West Virginia opens the 2019 season in Georgia.
The Mountaineers will take on Kennesaw State in Kennesaw, Georgia, on Friday at 4 p.m. before traveling to Atlanta to play one game against Georgia State on Saturday and then one game against Georgia Tech on Sunday.
First pitch for Saturday's game is 2 p.m. while Sunday's matchup against the Yellow Jackets will get underway at 1 p.m. and will be televised on the ACC Network Extra.
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