“He used a lot of sticky stuff to make his pitches better" - When Alek Manoah called Gerrit Cole the 'worst cheater in baseball history'
Toronto Blue Jays ace Alek Manoah has a decent enmity with both Gerrit Cole and the ballclub he pays for.
On the Sportsnet show "How hungry are you?" in November 2022, Serge Ibaka, who won the 2019 NBA championship with the Raptors, asked Manoah who he thinks the MLB's worst cheater is. Manoah named Gerrit Cole of the New York Yankees.
"He used a lot of sticky stuff to make his pitches better, and he kinda got called out on it," Manoah said of Cole.
When Gerrit Cole led the opposing Yankees onto the field in August, Manoah did not back down, and he is not backing down today. Before the Blue Jays and the Yankees began a series in The Bronx in August of 2023, Manoah declared, "I said what I said" when he was asked about his 2022 comments on Cole.
The MLB has taken tough measures against pitchers who use illegal substances. Umpires started routinely checking pitchers in 2021 for solutions like "Spider Tack" during games. Cole is among the pitchers who have reportedly improved their pitches by using sticky substances.
Gerrit Cole quashed the speculations in a 2021 interview:
"I don’t quite know how to answer that, to be honest," Cole said. "There are customs and practices that have been passed down from older players to younger players, from the last generation of players to this generation of players, and I think there are some things that are certainly out of bounds in that regard."
Although Cole has said that he had to make adjustments after Major League Baseball implemented the foreign substance prohibition, he has not specifically said if he has used Spider Tack, a very sticky paste, to increase his spin rates.
Alek Manoah is hopeful for a swift return for the 2024 season
After an awful 2023 campaign that saw Alek Manoah sent to the minor leagues, he is the single most unpredictable player on the Toronto Blue Jays going into 2024. Over the offseason, manager John Schneider stayed in contact with Manoah and made plans to see him in Miami. This is a chance to step up as a leader.
The most complete and best version of Manoah was seen during his 2022 All-Star season. The tools could still be in place. All that needs to be determined is how far below the surface Alek Manoah and the Blue Jays must go.