Four baseball gloves rested on the top shelf of Alek Manoah's clubhouse locker at Rogers Centre on Tuesday afternoon, his garments on a rack below with his black chair in its usual position nearby.
The only things missing were the baby blue jersey and matching ballcap that were hanging at each of his teammates' stalls ahead of Toronto's night game against Houston.
The Blue Jays sent Manoah down to the minor leagues earlier in the day. It was unclear when he'll be back. The right-hander was optioned to the rookie-level Florida Complex League after another poor start a night earlier. "It's not a knee-jerk reaction," said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. "Like I've been saying all along, we want to make sure that we're doing everything we can to help him get better.
Manoah's latest start was the shortest outing of his young career. He was shelled for six earned runs over one-third of an inning in an 11-4 loss to the Astros.