Prospect Watch: Alex Manasa Developing as a Strong Starting Prospect
For two-way players, the transition to Professional Baseball can be a tough one as they decide on one side or another. Coming out of high school, Pittsburgh Pirates pitching prospect Alex Manansa was named the #1 high school outfielder from the state of Michigan. However, he was drafted as a right-handed pitcher for the Pirates due to his speed and athletic build. Since joining the Pirates Minor League system in 2017, Manansa has improved each season that he has played in as he becomes a good starting pitching prospect in the low Minors. His fastball hits in the low 90s, and he has a change-up that he is developing to complement the pitch.
He spent the 2019 season in the Greensboro Grasshoppers rotation and posted his best numbers so far going 9-5 with a 3.48 ERA over 25 starts. He has had a big workload in the past but threw more than 100 innings for the first time in his professional career. He continues to show good strikeout numbers and control with a strikeout rate of 22.7% and a walk rate of just 5.5%. His velocity has gone up since he entered the system in 2017 and it has helped him on the mound. It creates more separation between his fastball and his change-up while keeping opposing highest off balance.
When he came out of high school in Michigan, Manansa was the top outfield prospect in the state. He was a tall, athletic guy, and used that to his advantage on the diamond. He played both center field and pitcher and wanted to be able to do both in college. He ended up being able to do that by going to Jackson County Community College just minutes away from his hometown. He ended up dominating on both sides of the ball and was one of the top players for Jackson College. As an outfielder, he hit .410 with three home runs and 56 RBI as he used his speed as one of his primary weapons. He stole 25 bases in 29 opportunities while leading the team in hitting and on-base percentage (.459).
While he was shining in the outfield, he was also starting to shine as a pitcher as well using his fastball/changeup combo effectively. In 21.1 innings of work on the mound, Manansa posted a 1.27 ERA while mostly working as the team's closer. He picked up five saves during the season and had an impressive strikeout rate of 13.09 per nine innings. He also showed good command of both of his pitches only walking three hitters during the season. Standing at 6'4, Manansa is a dominant looking figure on the mound. It was his numbers combined with his physical build that had the Pirates select him in the 11th round if the 2017 MLB Draft. Given his inexperience on the mound, the Pirates ended up sending Manansa to Rookie Ball to start his professional career.
He was inserted into the Bristol bullpen and put up pretty strong numbers going 2-1 with a 3.76 ERA in 38.1 innings of work. He did a lot of late-game work for Bristol and continued to produce a high strikeout rate setting down 20.9% of the batters he faced. He also continued to show that good control walking seven batters while having just seven wild pitches. The only problem was that he was getting hit around way too much for a guy working in high-pressure situations. He allowed an opponent batting average of .295 that season. He had a much lower velocity than many of the guys he was pitching with and it took its toll.
After starting the year as a one to two-inning reliever, Manansa really opened himself up and started to morph into a multi-inning reliever. As he began to work deeper into games, his results kept getting better and better. The month of August was his best of the season and he worked three innings four times in eight appearances. He ended up posting a 1.86 ERA over those eight outings and walked just one batter the entire month while striking out 19. He made his first professional start on August 26th, 2017, and threw 3.1 innings while allowing three unearned runs. This would kick start the rest of his professional career as he transitioned from the bullpen to the starting rotation.
The Pirates ended up promotion Manansa to Class-A Short Season West Virginia as he began the transition to being a starting pitcher. Overall, it went pretty well but came with some of its ups and downs over 80.1 innings of work. His strikeout rate dropped dramatically as he began to work deeper into games and his walk numbers went up. He posted a 4.48 ERA and his opponent batting average was still high but went down to .274. His first two starts for the Black Bears went well as he pitched six-plus innings in back-to-back outings and both turned into quality starts.
However, he ended up hitting a rough patch at the end of June and early July where he gave up four earned runs or more in three straight outings. It sent his ERA sky high and he would have to try and work it down the rest of the season. He would get into a rhythm by seasons end and ended up turning in quality starts in three of his final four appearances. It all but solidified his full transition to being a starting pitcher and the Pirates felt confident enough to promote him. He would head to Class Low-A Greensboro for the 2019 season and was looking to show that his early season's struggles of 2018 were behind him.
He did just that and more pitching a quarter more innings than he did the previous year and posted the best ERA of his career. He made 25 starts for the Grasshoppers and went 9-5 with a 3.48 ERA in 139.2 innings of work. His strikeout rate was back where it needed to be with 120 and his control was showing through, rebounding from a bad 2018. His opponent batting average dropped for the second season in a row to .246, allowing just 134 hits. However, the long ball was his kryptonite throughout the season as he gave up a career-high 10 home runs in a home run friendly home park.
He pitched five innings or more in all but one start during the season and turned in quality starts 20 times. His best stretch came from April 17th to July 10th where he had a string of 14 straight quality starts where he posted a 2.78 ERA. He was named a South Atlantic League All-Star for his efforts and gained the confidence he needed as he continues to develop. As we look ahead to 2021, Manansa looks to continue to progress as a starting pitcher. He will be entering his age 23 season and will probably head back to Greensboro at least for the start of the season. However, if he continues to pitch the way he did last season, look for him to move to Bradenton by season's end.
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