1 stud and 1 dud as depleted Raptors get flattened by Nets

1 stud and 1 dud as depleted Raptors get flattened by Nets

Thad Young and the Toronto Raptors went into the season expecting names like Pascal Siakam, Scottie Barnes, and Fred VanVleet to lead them to the promised land. In their second matchup of the season against Kevin Durant and the Brooklyn Nets, none of them were active. Toronto was missing six rotation players in this game. […]
1 stud and 1 dud as depleted Raptors get flattened by Nets – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Raptors loss vs. Hawks shows Thad Young must be the bench leader

Raptors loss vs. Hawks shows Thad Young must be the bench leader

Toronto Raptors veteran Thad Young has been on quite the journey after signing a multi-year contract with the club in the offseason. After one or two substandard performances early in the season, Young was excommunicated from the rotation until injuries forced him back into the fold. Young has started the last few games at center, […]
Raptors loss vs. Hawks shows Thad Young must be the bench leader – Raptors Rapture – Raptors Rapture – A Toronto Raptors Fan Site – News, Blogs, Opinion and More

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Author: Mike Luciano / Raptors HQ

Alek Manoah finished third in American League Cy Young voting

The American Cy Young award winner has been announced, and unfortunately, Alek Manoah didn’t win.

The 24-year-old Manoah had a fantastic season, registering a 2.24 ERA and 3.35 FIP in 196.2 innings pitched. While his K% dropped from 27.7% in 2021 to 22.9% in 2022, the Big Puma undoubtedly established himself as the Blue Jays ace.
For the next two seasons, the righty will make the league minimum, before his first year of arbitration after the 2024 season. Unless he is signed to a long-term deal beforehand (which is very possible), Manoah will become a free agent after the 2027 season.
Despite the excellent season, Manoah finished third in Cy Young voting, finishing with 13 votes for third place and seven votes for second. He also had 10 votes for fourth place but barely finished ahead of Shohei Ohtani.

I was a BBWAA voter for the AL Cy Young Award. My ballot:
1. Justin Verlander (HOU)2. Dylan Cease (CWS)3. Alek Manoah (TOR)4. Shohei Ohtani (LAA)5. Kevin Gausman (TOR)
Full results: pic.twitter.com/x9IiGP0qpc
— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) November 17, 2022

Chicago White Sox pitcher Dylan Cease finished in second place, while the Houston Astros’ Justin Verland finished in first.
Verlander won unanimously, taking all 30 first-place votes. Without any bias, it was well deserved as he had a 1.75 ERA and 2.49 FIP in 175 innings pitched with the eventual World Series winners. He also had a pretty impressive 27.8 K% and a 4.4 BB%, which is even more impressive considering that Verlander will turn 40 years old in February.
Per Astros beat reporter Brian McTaggart, the veteran pitcher is looking for a contract similar to Max Scherzer’s 3-year, $130 million deal. Scherzer, who is similar in age, signed that deal which carried an annual average of $43,333,333 with a player option for the 2024 season.
While …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation

Alek Manoah is an American League Cy Young finalist

The ace of the Blue Jays’ staff is a Cy Young nominee… Again

It was announced Monday evening that 24-year-old Alek Manoah is a nominee for the 2022 American League Cy Young award, along with Justin Verlander and Dylan Cease.
Manoah had a 2.24 ERA and 3.35 FIP in 196.2 innings pitched this season. The 24-year-old righty had a 22.9 K%, which is on the rather low side, but he had a solid 6.5 BB% with the Jays. The Big Puma also put up a 0.88 ERA and 3.09 FIP in September, which helped the Jays clinch home-field advantage for the Wild Card Series. Let’s see how he measures up compared to the competition.
Dylan Cease also had a great season, posting a 2.20 ERA and 3.10 FIP in 184 innings pitched. Out of these three pitchers, he had the highest K% of 30.4% and the highest BB% of 10.4%. If he had a competent team behind him, perhaps the White Sox would’ve made the playoffs.

The 300th K of @Alek_Manoah6’s career pic.twitter.com/tHV6rNRQc4
— Toronto Blue Jays (@BlueJays) September 24, 2022

Finally, we have a two-time World Series winner in Justin Verlander who had an incredible season with the Houston Astros. The righty had an amazing 1.75 ERA and 2.49 FIP in 175 pitches. This included a 27.8 K% and a 4.4 BB% with the Astros. He’d be my pick to win the AL Cy Young award… Oh, and he was also 39 years old this season. Incredible.
The Jays have a chance to have back-to-back winners in the Cy Young category, as former Blue Jay Robert Ray won the 2021 Cy Young winner. It’s unlikely that Manoah will win it, but it’d sure be awesome if he did!
The winner will be announced on November 16th.
As always, you can …

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Author: Brennan Delaney / Blue Jays Nation

Blue Jays prospects Ricky Tiedemann, Yosver Zulueta named to 2022 Futures Game

A pair of talented young arms from the Toronto Blue Jays’ farm system will be featured at this month’s Futures Game, which is being held at Dodger Stadium on July 16.
Major League Baseball revealed its American and National League rosters for the event on Thursday, including prospects Ricky Tiedemann and Yosver Zulueta. Both pitchers will receive an opportunity to showcase their talents during the seven-inning game.

Watch the stars of tomorrow before they reach the bigs!
Here are the rosters for the 2022 Futures Game. pic.twitter.com/39yGm83UME
— MLB (@MLB) July 7, 2022

This announcement should come as no surprise to Blue Jays fans as both Tiedemann and Zulueta have enjoyed very strong first-half performances. In turn, they’ve each generated plenty of hype across North America.
Tiedemann, who’s ranked as Toronto’s No. 3 top prospect by MLB.com, was selected in the third round of last season’s draft. The 19-year-old opened the year at low-A Dunedin, where he posted a 1.80 ERA and 49 strikeouts across 30.0 innings, and currently resides at high-A Vancouver.
In seven starts, the left-hander has allowed eight runs, six earned, on 19 hits and eight walks while striking out 47 batters. His ERA sits at 1.64 ERA through 33.0 innings.
Zulueta, Toronto’s No. 19 top prospect, is one season removed from a torn ACL and has appeared at three different levels in 2022. The 24-year-old began his campaign in Dunedin, where he made just a trio of starts before earning a promotion to Vancouver. There, he made six starts, performing to a 3.80 ERA through 23.2 innings.
Most recently, Zulueta moved up to double-A New Hampshire, although his only start at that level lasted just 1.2 innings. Before departing, he allowed two runs on two hits and a pa …

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Author: Thomas Hall / Blue Jays Nation