Former Mountaineer Rated as Top-100 MLB Prospect

Earlier this week senior baseball writer Keith Law released his 2020 Top 100 Prospect list on The Athletic (subscription).

Among the list littered with MLB hopefuls and potential future stars, Law has former West Virginia pitcher Alec Manoah ranked as the 76th best prospect in all of baseball.

Law says Manoah, who was drafted 11th overall by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2019 MLB draft, “checks all the boxes for a mid-rotation starter”. Law likes Manoah’s fastball and changeup, but questions the consistency of his slider and curveball.

He also likes Manoah’s size and approach to pitching.

“He’s very big at 6′6″ and 260 pounds, and he pitches with intent, attacking hitters consistently with his fastball to set up everything else, including, quite often, more fastballs,” Law writes.

Manoah was a star for WVU as a junior last season. The Miami native won nine of his 16 starts, with a 2.08 ERA and 144 strikeouts to just 27 walks in 108.1 innings. Manoah was voted the unanimous Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and was named to the All-Big 12 First Team. He led the league in ERA, innings pitched and strikeouts.

Law mentions that he thinks Manoah was “used a little heavily by West Virginia in the Spring.”

Manoah, along with fellow 2019 draftees Nick Snyder (9-1, 2.65 ERA) and Kade Strowd (5-6, 4.73 ERA) pitched the Mountaineers to the best team ERA in the conference (3.70) and a 38-22 record, good enough for Morgantown to host its first NCAA regional since the 1950s.

After being drafted by the Bue Jays, Manoah pitched for the Vancouver Canadians at the short-season level. He made six starts in his first season as a pro, pitching 17 innings with a 2.65 ERA and 27 strikeouts.

Snyder was drafted in the 11th round by the Arizona Diamondbacks and also pitched 17 innings as a pro. He appeared in 10 games with a 0.53 ERA and 30 strikeouts.

Strowd was selected in the 12th round by the Baltimore Orioles. He also pitched 17 professional innings, this time for the Aberdeen Ironbirds. He had a 0.00 ERA and 19 strikeouts in 13 games (one start).