The Blue Jays announced today that right-hander Hagen Danner has been recalled from Triple-A. He will be making his major league debut as soon as he gets into a game. Righty Alek Manoah was optioned as the corresponding move.
Danner, 24, was both a pitcher and a catcher in high school when the Jays drafted him in 2017. They initially tried him behind the plate but he didn’t hit much in the lower levels of the minors and got moved back to the mound. In 2021, he tossed 35 2/3 innings in High-A, allowing 2.02 earned runs per nine innings. He struck out 29.4% of batters faced, walked 8.4% and got grounders at a 36.3% rate.
With his early attempts at catching and the canceled minor leagues in 2020, that was the totality of his professional pitching experience in November of 2021. Nonetheless, the Jays were clearly intrigued, as they added Danner to their 40-man roster to prevent him from being selected in the Rule 5 draft.
Last season, the righty spent much of the time on the minor league injured list, only throwing 3 2/3 innings for the year. Here in 2023, he’s thrown 39 1/3 innings across three different levels with a 3.66 ERA. He’s struck out 35.7% of batters he’s faced while walking just 7%. The long ball has been a bit of an issue, however, with eight balls having gone over the fence so far this year. But his 26.7% rate of fly balls turning into home runs is more than double the major league average and unlikely to be sustained.
As for Manoah, this is the second time this year that he’s been sent on optional assignment. The first came in June after he struggled mightily in the first couple of months in the season, with a 6.36 ERA at that time. He was recalled about a month later and has been a bit better, with a 4.91 ERA since coming back up. His 23.3% strikeout rate in that time is close to average but his 12.8% walk rate is a few ticks on the high side.
The Jays have been running a six-man rotation recently, thanks to the return of Manoah as well as Hyun Jin Ryu returning from his Tommy John surgery rehab, joining Kevin Gausman, José Berríos, Chris Bassitt and Yusei Kikuchi. That arrangement has been fine for a while as they are currently in a stretch of playing 17 days in a row, but that will end after this weekend. Starting on Monday, the Jays have three off-days in an eight-day period, making the six starters unnecessary.
It seems Manoah will be the odd man out for now, as he’ll head to Triple-A Buffalo and await his next opportunity. An injury to one of the club’s other starters could open a spot for him, or perhaps the expanded September rosters will get him back aboard.
Unless there’s an injury, it’s tough to see Manoah coming back up this season.
I think he’ll be back up.
The Jays did something similar in 2016, when they optioned Aaron Sanchez down to A ball and recalled him on Aug 31. In both cases, they had a 6 man rotation and probably wanted to get a reliever up to cover a stretch where 6 starters was not necessary.
Mind you, Sanchez was a case of load management and I don’t think he even left the team while he was optioned. Manoah is probably going to get some work in with Buffalo.
Load management?
More like blisters.
I believe blisters were in 2017.
2016 was Sanchez’ peak year.
Yes. 2016 was not load management. Sanchez’ downfall was never about load management.
#Starvenger
Another possible alternative. If his call up isn’t for injury it would have to severe under performance of the remaining 5 starters. With Kikuchi being the “weakest link” and given his track record this season his deteriorated would have to be greater than Manoah’s upside. Maybe a double header gets him the nod to come back.
Yeah I could buy that
That K/BB ratio is nice for the minor league callup.
Hagen Danner sounds like a brand of frozen yogurt, like a mashup of Häagen-Dazs and Dannon!
That sounds like a delicious combination lol
Hahaha
Man Manoah has imploded big time. He looked pretty good against the Tigers at the start of the season but it’s been all downhill from there. Hopefully he gets it together for next year.
Im a jays fan and i think its fitting. Im old school grew up playing ball amd i was always raised to 1) enjoy the game and to play hard for every out and 2) to respect the game the rules and the opponent. My dad had a saying “the baseball Gods can give ith amd they can take’ith away”. Now i just find that new age players carry way to much cocky arrogance and disrespect for the game and Manoah was one. Theres a difference between being a bulldog on the mound and being entitled. Roy halladay was the definition of bulldog on game days everyone knew not to talk to roy to leave him alone on the mount he demanded business like behaviour from his teammatesand he would never taunt point or antagonize the opponents disrespectfully after a big strikeout. He did have a couple media scuffles but he never used social media to take shots at reporters or other players. And he didnt care how good he was in the offseason he was the first out there to get better. Manoah had the easy road came up never faced adversity became an instant hit the league couldn’t touch him and he let it go to his head. Instead of trying to be better he would pick fights with media and opponents. I remember the gerritt cole incident and turned to my dad and was like woudnt it be funny if he hit rock bottom cuz hes “direspecting” the game and the Gods took his talent away. Well i hope this is a humbling learning experience for him and he goes into the offseason and focuses on his throwing program and fitness levels and comeback next year as a true bulldog and not a cocky dick.
Very well said! I couldn’t agree more! Last season he was getting hitters out because for some odd reason they couldn’t lay off pitches that were out of the strike zone. Hitters learned to wait him out and force him to throw strikes and look what has happened. He walks more hitters and hits them as well which simply = free rides = more runs scored against him.
Manoah needs to learn command of his pitches or he will never be successful again at the MLB level. Same issue Pearson is having. Can’t throw strikes!!
Wow, Alek… Never expected him to collapse this year…
Im a jays fan i didnt think so either. But the funny thing is the pre season projections were very pessimistic on him and saw a likly down fall. I just find that crazy cuz everyone that seem those said its BS
Are we not considering Ryu as injured too?
I saw a report (probably yesterday) saying Ryu was expected to make his next start on Sunday. This confirms Ryu is fine and ready to go.
Wow, I hadn’t seen that. I assumed he was missing a start at minimum even with the clean X-rays.
Mariners broke manoah
How about calling up Horwitz instead to maybe score some runs?
No. One unheralded rookie can do it all by himself. Davis “Chilli Babe” Schneider
Sarcasm
On a real note, they probably don’t want to piss of Vlad because if he comes up and performs, you might have to talk about trading him in the off-season.
Where he’ll undoubtedly turn into the best hitter in all of Baseball and learn how to pitch and likely close for Ohtani on the Angel’s while they win 5 consecutive WS and Trout Retires a winner
Sorry kinda got lost in my nightmares there
This was poorly managed by Atkins. The inability to build depth around this team has really set this contention window back.
Depth is a little lacking for sure but let’s not act like he hasn’t built one of the best rotations in baseball.
Every team wants more SP but a ton of teams would also trade rotations with the Jays.
Which makes the building depth part even more concerning.
The over pay for Mitch white, handling of Manoah, having Gausman pitched through minor injuries with no additional days off, all depth related. Inability to draft and develop 4s and 5s
I gotta say, not getting a legitimate RH slugger from someone, anyone!! Was quite disappointing. Even before the season started you knew you had to have at least a RHH 5th OF to spell Varsho and this is when we still thought he’d hit 35 HRs behind Vlad
Things have only gotten worse. Hallelujah we found lightning in a bottle with Schneider. But that’s just found money and like Plan Q
But where was the big trade? Why not get Goldy from St Lou seeing we could only trade with them this deadline.
We couldn’t beat the offer for Pham? Really?
We couldn’t pull off a Blockbuster with SD or either Chicago team?
We could have offered the legitimate Farm for Ohtani. Give up any 10-15 players you want from AAA AA and Aand not in the top 6 of our MLB lineup
Kirk, Manoah, Tiedemann, Barriera, Barger, Martinez, Zulu, the 16 year Olds we just signed international I wouldn’t care.
At least they tried.
They’re literally putting ALL the eggs into SP RP and defensive, just hoping and praying it stays effective and healthy. Then catching fire offensively in the playoffs where the heat gets turned up even more
Dunno if I like that plan
But I’m gonna keep cheering until it doesn’t work out
Fire the hitting coach. The hitters new a fresh new voice.
Ohtani was off the table. You could offer those guys and it was pretty clear the Angels were going to say no. That one is not on Atkins.
I humbly agree with your statement. 1 or 2 hitters struggling is one thing but literally the whole team?! Someone needs to be held accountable.
I agree. Every player has their playing weight where they thrive in but not when you are a rookie.
Don’t get me started on Kirk! I’ve lost count how many runs he has cost the team this year by either having to be held up at 3rd base or grounding into a double play because he literally waddles to first base.
Jays should have traded Kirk and kept Moreno. The only reason they kept Kirk was for Manoah but we can all see how well that is working out!
It wont matter. Next season will probably be another gutting season. Chapman will be gone merrifield will be gone. As much as i would offer Merrifield 18mil i think hes gonna decline and cash in elsewhere. He may not 12mil raise is alot for a 35 yr old. Ryu wont be back. I also believe kikuchi is a ufa. Oh man our infield might just end up the worst in baseball. No 3rd baseman. bichette at SS(below average fielder) biggio/espinal all below average hitters meh but passable fielders. Vlad jr worst 1st baseman in the league. Jansen solid streaky hitter good game caller but combined with kirk are the lowest in the league at controlling runners on bases.
Atkins isn’t the one not getting hits and driving in runs. That’s on the players.
And how can you say they have no depth when they have a 6 man rotation? Isn’t that the definition of depth?
Ryu’s made 2 starts. Depth is a 36 year old a year removed from Tommy John?
Atkins isn’t acquiring the players necessary to get those hits. Atkins is allergic to addressing needs quickly. Only took 4 years to get a pitching staff together.
AAA starting pitching is terrible. That’s the depth people are talking about.
Its pretty obvious what the problem with Manoah is. He needs to lose a good 50 pounds. I can’t believe you can call yourself an athlete and be obese. As a DH you can get away with it for slightly longer but I just can’t understand how someone can pay you millions and yet you still can’t controll your own eating habits. Just look at Sandoval and Prince Fielder. Their primes ended way too early because they had an obsession over food. Miguel Sano looks like hes done as well. I don’t understand how Vogelbach is still in the majors. Can’t hit, run, or field. Ridiculous
He needs to lose the attitude also and act like a pro when striking guys out.
Worth a try. Not going to hurt him.
Food is fine. Eat as much as you want. Manufactured items masquerading as food are not. Keep it whole and enjoy the bodies response.
Fielder was ripped and fairly lean, and his neck injury was caused by degenerative discs. His career was certainly not sidelined at the age of 32 by his weight; his hereditary neck condition ended it. Additionally, he was productive until the very end.
That is some revisionist history…He wasn’t ripped, he wasn’t lean and he wasn’t productive until the very end. You managed to be wrong to a shocking degree for a relatively short post.
Your name is appropriate. Here’s a link for you: espn.com/mlb/story/_/page/bodyfielderqa/texas-rang…
What about Vladdy
He was heavy last year. this line of thinking is way too simplistic.
Some folks carry their weight OK. Manoah doesn’t. It’s clearly impacting him. Worse for him is the addiction with food. It is not limited to what he puts in his mouth, but also what comes out of it. Every addict I know has a big mouth to disguise his/her low self-esteem. He needs a treatment center.
And evidence for these claims or or you just making these things up? Again, the dude has been heavy since at least college, so the idea that it’s somehow just impacting him is silly.
@DarkSide830 as you get older your body changes. Your body feels completely different from when your 18 compared to being 40. As Manoah has aged hes gained more weight and his body just isn’t able to handle it anymore
Yeah, I’m just making it up.
You clearly are.
He’s releasing his pitches from a completely different angle. His slider has also lost all vertical movement. Also, his sinker now ends up in the dirt or just as a ball. From 2022 to 2023, how did his weight cause this?
Same with kirk. Won’t last long in the majors. Already a major liability on the base paths or if there are runners on the bases.
Manoah isnt the only one thats obese/overweight. Kirk is as well as vlad jr. They all need a dietitian they need goals set. They needed to get rid of kirk last year at his height of trade value.. now hes worth nothing. He cant throw out runners, he cant run and hes struggling to hit homeruns.. vlad jr needs to loae weight as well. While at it revamp your swing. You made the records book for being the youngest player with the most grounded into double plays before thw age of 25.. hes not timing the ball. Hes struggling to catch up to a fastball… hes ths leagues worst 3rd baseman and 1st baseman… where else do you play him DH only.. if im vlad im staying in dunedin this offseason away from grandmas cooking following a strict regiment and im flying ohtani out to teach me how to swing the bat.. cuz man otahni is not a big powerful guy but he sure has a sweet level powerful swing id want to mimick
Sabathia’s weight didn’t seem to affect him
He would have been better than he was if he were to lose the weight. Look at him now. He’s lost all that weight. Why?
How does carrying extra fat make you a better pitcher?
Perhaps because he struggled with alcoholism. You can’t correlate his weight to your “maybe he could have been better” theory. He was always large, and he dominated for as long as most pitchers do. *Maybe* without the struggles with alcohol he could have done better for a few of his latter years, but cmon. He’s a legend. Y’all are making up this weight stuff and it’s ridiculous.
Yeah you are right. Weight has no impact on athletic ability because of a few outliers. These MLB teams need to get rid of any nutritionist on the team, seems like a waste of resources.
Jays still in denial about Manoah, he was re-called up way too early.
Quite liked this guy coming out. Did the two-way thing before it was cool. Converted catchers in particular are a curius bunch.
Question – when did he play a position professionally besides pitcher?
Should have never called him up to begin with.
Recker was right about Manoah needing to spend more time in the gym.
Anybody with half an eyeball knew the Jays brought Manoah back from Florida waaaayyy too soon. This yo-yo’ing has done the kid exactly zero favours. His mechanics are broken. Let him fix them fully before you throw him to the wolves again. Sheesh.
Schneider’s tone was a little more get him out of here vs needs to get right.
There may be an attitude adjustment involved in this demotion as well as performance
Manoah gave them journeyman AAAA production all year at best. He wasn’t good enough to stick on a contender.
I love the guy and hope he figures it out.
Danner is filthy! Throws like Brandon League back in the day
42.2. I’ll say it again. 42.2. That’s how many innings Alek pitched in the minors before making his MLB debut. What did he learn about adjusting his mechanics when facing adversity? While other clubs slowly build up pitcher’s innings over years, what did the Blue Jays do here? After missing 2020 due to the pandemic, he went from 111 innings to 196. I just don’t think the club handled him well, and for those griping about his outspoken attitude, maybe that has helped carry him to where he was.
Manoah and Pearson are going to be yo-yo’ing back and forth for the rest of the season. Every time they bring back Pearson he still shows command issues so what has he really been working on in AAA? At his age you can either throw strikes or not! If he hasn’t figured it out yet then he may as well forget it. Manoah is no different. In the Show you must be able to throw strikes in any count. It is that simple. I feel bad for both of them because they were both born with a gift for an arm but clearly they both appear to be literally throwing it away.