Blue Jays draft WVU’s Manoah
Mountaineer pitcher goes to Toronto as the 11th overall pick
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MORGANTOWN -- With the 11th overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft on Monday night, the Toronto Blue Jays selected West Virginia University junior right-handed starter Alek Manoah.
Manoah is the second Mountaineer to ever be picked in the first round, as he ties right-hander Chris Enochs for the highest draft pick in program history. Enochs was the 11th-overall pick in 1997 by the Oakland Athletics.
A Miami native, Manoah is the 91st draft selection in Mountaineer history since the first draft was held in 1965, and the 21st in coach Randy Mazey's seven seasons.
"It's extremely emotional to be able to be here with all my teammates, my entire family and the coaching staff," Manoah said. "It's been a huge blessing for me to see my dreams come true."
"It's hard to put into words," Mazey said. "Our job as coaches and as parents is to make memories for these kids. This is a memory Alek will never forget, I'll never forget and his teammates will never forget. You can check that box as far as making a memory for Alek here in Morgantown."
Manoah is the fifth Mountaineer picked by Toronto and the first since first baseman Ryan McBroom in 2014.
The fourth first team All-American in program history and a finalist for the National Pitcher of the Year by the College Baseball Foundation, Manoah had one of the most dominating seasons in Mountaineer history. He is the 2019 Big 12 Pitcher of the Year and a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and the Golden Spikes Award. Manoah is the first player in Big 12 history to be named Pitcher of the Week three consecutive weeks and the fourth to earn weekly honors four times in a season. An All-Big 12 First Team honoree, Manoah also was the NCBWA Pitcher of the Month for April, a two-time NCBWA National Pitcher of the Week and the first player to ever earn the Golden Spikes Award/D1Baseball.com Performance of the Week award three consecutive weeks.
In an impressive junior season, Manoah broke the single-season record for strikeouts, with 144, and tied the WVU record for starts, with 16.