Digging into Alek Manoah’s start against Paul Skenes in Triple-A

Starting with his physical presence, Manoah was a unit off the bump and showed out to be more athletic and prepared. He primarily worked from the stretch and used a leg-kick with the pond empty. He maintained composure and a steady tempo throughout his outing.

The Toronto righty kept the running game controlled, averaging 1.2 seconds to the dish with runners on base. One small change observed in Manoah was his arm angle and arm slot. The arm slot seemed to be over the top emphasized, and his back hip was hinged better with the weight on the rear ready for fire. The delivery was consistent and the finish was wholesome.

Manoah’s fastball command was on point and the off-speed and breaking options were extremely effective. The heater sat consistent at 95 mph with the sinker moving vertical at 94 mph. His out-pitch was the slider which created good spin, deep break and sat 83-84 mph; this pitch was highly effective. Overall, Manoah is slowly looking like his old self while things are reforming.

Paul Skenes ranks third among the top 100 MLB prospects to date. The 2023 first-overall pick is vastly developing and painting a major-league image for himself. Skenes brings a noticeable presence to the ball field with a tough physical structure. He stands a towering 6’6” and weighs 235 lbs. His strength runs full-body with a very dynamic arm.

The monster-righty kicks high with his lead leg, generating a controlled power at a three-quarter arm slot, and stays balanced the full way. He has a good repeated delivery and stays composed. He employs three main pitch options with great value in them all. His fastball has an 80-scale rating on the 20-8-0 scouting scale. This pitch has touched up to 102 mph while cruising between 98-99 mph.

The small bit of bite on the fastball, accompanied by the velocity misses barrels on a regular spot-up basis. He located this well and will dot the box very well. The changeup is very effective, shaving 12-14 mph off and dialling it low in the zone to miss barrels. His out-pitch is his slider that generates a slashing break in the upper 80s. This pitch comes out like a fastball and ends up a sharp thruway exit away from the wheelhouse.

Skenes is highly effective and very dialed in his outings. In this matchup against the Buffalo Bisons, he also pitched six innings of shutout baseball, giving up four hits, one walk, and striking out seven. In April, he posted a 0.43 ERA.

This matchup was one of the books and definitely worth the minor league ticket to see two possible ace big league arms square off!