Manoah's ace-like outing to beat Yankees shows there may be no ceiling

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BRONX, N.Y. — Three established veterans are ahead of him in the rotation pecking order, but it was 24-year-old Alek Manoah playing the role of stopper and giving the Toronto Blue Jays bullpen the break it so badly needed.

Heading into the Bronx for an early-season four-game test against the division-rival New York Yankees, the Jays had gotten just 8.2 frames out of Jose Berrios, Kevin Gausman and Hyun Jin Ryu to start the year, leaving a whole lot of innings for the ’pen to carry in the first series of the season against the Texas Rangers.

Manoah stopped that bleeding in Monday’s series opener, giving the Jays six desperately needed quality frames and allowing just one hit in a 3-0 victory.

It was an ace-like performance.

While Manoah battled his command at times, walking four, he also showed a velocity bump from last season and mixed in his changeup more than ever against Yanks lefties Anthony Rizzo, Joey Gallo, Aaron Hicks and Marwin Gonzalez.

Last year, Manoah’s four-seam fastball averaged 93.7 mph. On Monday, it was in the 95-mph range early on, and he mostly carried that through his outing.

“It plays heavy,” manager Charlie Montoyo said of Manoah’s heater. “He’s 93-94 mph, but it’s heavy. There’s a difference.”

But it’s the changeup usage that will be intriguing to monitor as Manoah navigates his second big-league season now that opposing teams and hitters have a bit of a book on him.

Becoming less predictable will be key.

“Learning when to mix it in, how to mix it in,” Manoah said after the win in the Bronx. “I feel like in college, I didn’t really need it. In the minor leagues, I didn’t really need it. Last year, I didn’t really need it a ton, but being able to mix that in and keep hitters