Blue Jays, Orioles, and Red Sox: 2 truths and 1 lie about the AL East so far

The American League East is expected to be one of the best, if not the best, divisions in 2023. Just one quick look at the AL East standings a week into the season tells you it will be a long 162-game season for each team.

Surprisingly, the Tampa Bay Rays sit at the top, followed by the New York Yankees, Toronto Blue Jays, and Boston Red Sox. Things will shuffle around all summer and it wouldn’t be surprising to see two or three teams playing in early October.

There is no shortage of storylines throughout the division on all five teams and there are plenty of overreactions to the first week, so let’s look at two truths and a lie through the first week for the AL East.

AL East truth: Alek Manoah is a top-of-the-rotation pitcher for Toronto Blue Jays

Alek Manoah is a pitcher that if he’s on your team, you love him. If you’re facing him, he’s tough to like with his emotion. However, the truth is that he’s turning into the top-of-rotation-pitcher the Blue Jays were hoping he would be.

In his two starts this season, his ERA is 4.35, but that is from the season opener against the St. Louis Cardinals where he gave up 10 hits and five earned runs in just 3.1 innings. He bounced back in his next start, giving up just one hit in seven innings of work against the Kansas City Royals.

In his career, the emotional right-hander is 26-9 with a 2.65 ERA and 315 strikeouts in 318.1 innings. The 25-year-old was Toronto’s first-round pick (11th overall) in 2019 out of West Virginia and has been able to use his four pitches (four-seam fastball, sinker, slider, and changeup) in any count.

Toronto’s rotation behind Manoah with Kevin Gausman, Yusei Kikuchi, Jose Berrios, and Chris Bassitt is deep if it’s healthy and a reason why they could end up on top of the AL East at the end of the season. Over the course of the season, Manoah will show that he’s the future ace of the staff.