'Everything on the table' for how Blue Jays move forward with Alek Manoah

Blue Jays starter Alek Manoah couldn't make it out of the first inning on Monday against the Houston Astros in what was the latest in a string of terrible outings. Toronto manager John Schneider outlined where the big right-hander goes from here and says "everything is on the table."

Video Transcript

- Hey, John. Where do you go from here with Alek Manoah?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Like I said before, you got to continue to do whatever is best for him to help him get better. So that's what we're going to do, starting tonight going forward. And that's been our focus the whole time. So continuing to do that.

- And when you do look for what's best for him, is there a mental component to that you think needs to happen first? Or can that happen side by side?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I think side by side, really. That's what's been happening already. So again, just trying to continue to explore every avenue, use the resources that we have, and just try to get him better.

- John, what did you see as the issues that he fought most tonight?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: The grand slam, obviously, walked before that. But I think it was just pitches in the middle of the plate a little bit. We knew they're coming out swinging, the first two guys. And it's a soft single and then a bunt hit with one strike, and unraveled from there. So I think it's easy to look past some of the guys at the bottom of the order, even though they're pretty good, when you have those guys at the top. And left the pitch right there for the grand slam.

- From the process elements that we were discussing before the game, did you see progression in any of those things that you think there's-- that show any, I guess, measure of improvement along those lines?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: He was in the zone much more, I think. But at the end of the day, it's a lot of pitches through the first nine hitters. And one of the things we're looking at, I think, is pitches per inning. And tonight wasn't his night.

- Schneids, at this point, with just some of his body language, are you concerned about sending him out there in five days and having it go in a similar fashion?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I think we're past that point. Again, I think what we're concerned about is just really trying to do whatever we need to do to get him better. Again, we're talking about a really good pitcher, for one, and it's been a tough go for him, so he understands that and there's no concern. But I think the main focus is to just do whatever we need to do to get him better.

- Would you view the situation differently if there were options in triple-A pitching well?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: I think we view the situation for any player, no matter what the circumstances are, very similarly to where, no matter what's waiting in triple-A or double-A, you're trying to just do what's best for him. So he's been a really good option for us for a long time, and we're going to try to continue to help him along the way.

- Hey, John. As Alek has struggled, have you seen any erosion in his mental strength?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: No, I don't think so. Again, I think he was as vulnerable as he's ever been and his professional career after his last start, so I don't think Alek will ever lose that, no.

- John, when you say you're going to do everything you can, is everything on the table? Does everything you can mean necessarily that's all going to be up here?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: As of now, yeah, we're not sitting here making plans for anything. But I think everything that we can do for him is using every resource that we have and using the staff and using his teammates to help him through it. So when I say everything's on-- yeah, everything is on the table. We're just trying to help him get back to the caliber of pitcher that he was.

- And just is the plan now for him to start on Saturday?

JOHN SCHNEIDER: Yeah, I think so. Game just ended, so we're trying to light up our bullpen for tomorrow. Again, we'll figure it out.