In a pitchers duel with Hunter Greene, Alek Manoah wanted a chance to go the distance. Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo wouldn’t allow it.
Manoah threw just 83 pitches in eight innings, and thought that given his pitch count he deserved a chance to throw a complete game. Montoyo thought differently, and went to his fresh closer, Jordan Romano, for the save.
As you can see, Manoah did not agree with Montoyo’s decision in the moment, and it’s tough to blame him. In the era of the bullpen game, it’s rare that a pitcher gets to throw nine innings, and this was as good of opportunity as any.
“I think (Montoyo) understands how competitive I am,” said Manoah. “Me as a competitor, I’m just doing my job. It’s not every day you get to go do something like that. But we’ve got the best closer in baseball. He’s doing his job and protecting me and we’ll keep moving forward.”
Blue Jays: Charlie Montoyo defends decision to pull Alek Manoah
While the fans and Manoah surely wanted to see the pitcher throw a complete game, Montoyo erred on the side of caution.
“I love the kid,” Montoyo said. “It could be in the fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth, whenever, he never wants to come out and that’s why he’s so good.”
Romano is tied with Milwaukee’s Josh Hader for the MLB lead in saves with 15, which helps back Montoyo’s decision to make sure the win was in the bag. There’s no point in forcing Romano to come in with a runner on, or worse. With just two runs, the Reds could’ve forced extra innings.
In the end, Montoyo made the right, safe call considering it’s late May.
