WVU Baseball Alumnus Alek Manoah Finishes 3rd in Cy Young Voting

West Virginia alumnus Alek Manoah had a season to remember as he finished in third place in the 2022 AL Cy Young voting. Manoah finished behind the Houston Astros’ Justin Verlander and the Chicago White Sox’s Dylan Cease.

Manoah posted a 16-7 record, a 2.24 ERA, 0.992 WHIP and 180 strikeouts this past season as the ace of the Toronto Blue Jays staff.

Verlander had a historic season with an ERA that sat below 2.00 at 1.75, which was the best in the AL. He also led the AL in wins with 18 and had just four losses while striking out 185 in 175 innings of work.

Cease had a 2.20 era and 227 strikeouts in 184 innings of work. He went 14-8 this season. On a less positive note, he also led the AL in walks with 88.

It was unlikely that Manoah was going to surpass Verlander in voting, who received all 30 first place votes. Manoah, interestingly enough, actually finished third in second place votes and the Los Angeles Angels’ Shohei Ohtani received more second place votes as well, but finished in fourth place in the overall voting.

Dylan Cease's breakout season is marked by a second place finish in AL Cy Young voting pic.twitter.com/Au6JFwL5w0

— James Fegan (@JRFegan) November 17, 2022

Manoah was drafted by the Blue Jays in the 11th round of the 2019 draft. Before being drafted, he finished off a stellar college career at WVU, recording a 2.81 career ERA with the Mountaineers. He was named the Big 12’s best pitcher in 2019 after going 9-4 with a 2.08 ERA and totaling 144 strikeouts in 108 1/3 innings.