Alek Manoah’s Spring Struggles Keep Angels’ Rotation Gamble in Doubt
alek manoah arrived in Anaheim this spring as a reclamation project, but the move has not produced the turnaround the Angels hoped for. He has been hit hard throughout spring training, compiling troubling line work that suggests underlying problems remain. The numbers and recent history make it unclear whether a return to the majors with the Angels is realistic right now.
Alek Manoah’s Troubling Spring Training Numbers
Spring work has been stark: 15. 1 innings pitched, 23 hits allowed and 16 runs for a 9. 39 ERA. In that span he struck out 13 batters while issuing 14 walks. That combination of contact and control issues is central to why alek manoah’s spring has been labeled a failure by observers watching him try to revive his career.
Career Decline Outlined
The recent spring struggles come on the back of a volatile professional arc. In 2022, alek manoah posted a 2. 24 ERA across 31 starts, following a 3. 22 ERA in 20 starts as a rookie. The next season saw a sharp reversal: a 5. 87 ERA in 19 starts in 2023. He showed a brief improvement with a 3. 70 ERA in five starts in 2024, but injuries and ineffectiveness sidelined him and kept him away from the major-league roster after those appearances.
What Angels Hoped and What Comes Next
The Angels chased the upside of a former standout pitcher and hoped a change of scenery would restore what once made alek manoah a frontline starter. That strategy—signing a high-upside arm with recent success on his record—was not an unreasonable gamble for a club searching for rotation depth. Still, the current spring performance raises hard questions about roster plans and whether the team can realistically expect a midseason revival.
Moving forward, the immediate focus is straightforward: more consistent command and fewer hard-contact innings in games and live work. If spring traits persist into the regular season, a roster spot will be hard to justify. The Angels will have to decide whether to remain patient with a pitcher who showed peak-level results in 2022 but whose trajectory since then—documented by escalating ERAs, control lapses and time away from the majors—suggests recovery will not be automatic for alek manoah.
