When you have a strong pitching staff like the Philadelphia Phillies, it makes sense that rivals within the division will try to do all they can to stay competitive. In particular, with the Phillies equipped with a daunting starting rotation of Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suárez, Cristopher Sánchez, Aaron Nola and Jesús Luzardo, there aren’t many teams that can match that kind of caliber.
The Phillies' archrival, the Atlanta Braves, have been trying to keep pace arm for arm during the past few seasons. Unfortunately, their pitching staff had been hit by a plethora of injuries throughout the 2025 campaign, leaving them scrambling for pitching depth all season. However, that desperation just reached new heights with the Braves claiming pitcher Alek Manoah off waivers from the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday.
Braves bring former Cy Young finalist Alek Manoah to NL East with bold waiver claim
Manoah, a former first-round pick of the Blue Jays in the 2019 MLB Draft, took the baseball world by storm when he made his major league debut for Toronto in 2021 with only 35 minor league innings under his belt. Despite the limited experience, the hulking right-hander quickly blossomed into an instant star in his first season. He posted an impressive 9-2 record with a 3.22 ERA, 1.05 WHIP, along with 127 strikeouts in 111 2/3 innings to finish eighth in AL Rookie of the Year voting.
Manoah followed that up with the best season of his MLB career in 2022. He compiled a stellar 16-7 record, with a 2.24 ERA, 0.99 WHIP and 180 strikeouts in 196 2/3 innings over 31 starts to become a first-time All-Star and finalist for the AL Cy Young Award.
.@Alek_Manoah6 mic'd up while pitching was electric. #AllStarGame pic.twitter.com/WLhyX4rJND
— MLB (@MLB) July 20, 2022
However, his career took a huge turn in subsequent seasons when he began his ongoing battles with control and command issues, along with injury woes that eventually led to Tommy John surgery, which wiped out a giant chunk of his 2024 and all of his 2025 season.
Manoah had been working hard in rehab hoping to get back into game action with the Jays this year. However, Toronto shockingly gave up on the once-promising arm by designating him for assignment earlier this week. In 38 2/3 minor league innings this season, Manoah posted a 2.96 ERA and a 1.53 WHIP. He struck out 35 (8.15 K/9) but walked 23 (5.35 BB/9).
With the Braves being masterful at churning out elite young pitching talent in recent years, with Spencer Strider, Spencer Schwellenbach and more recently Hurston Waldrep and AJ Smith-Shawver being perfect examples, they could be the exact organization and environment to help provide the 27-year-old Manoah the opportunity to re-establish his game.
With the bold move, Atlanta will be hoping that they can catch lightning in a bottle and resurrect a former Cy Young-caliber pitcher to join their future pitching staff. But no matter what the Braves have in store with Manoah down the road, the Phillies will be ready to counter with their elite pitching talent in the coming years, starting with their can’t miss top prospect Andrew Painter.