Alek Manoah still believes Gerrit Cole is the WORST CHEATER in baseball history as he doubles down on criticism… just before the two pitchers face off in The Bronx today!
- Manoah said Gerrit Cole’s use of Spider Tack makes him MLB’s worst cheater
- Cole and Manoah are set to pitch against each other in The Bronx on Saturday
- DailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news
Before the two pitchers face each other in The Bronx on Saturday afternoon, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah stuck to his statement and belief that New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole is the ‘worst cheater’ in baseball history.
Back in November, Manoah appeared on a cooking show for Canadian TV channel Sportsnet with NBA big man Serge Ibaka.
Ibaka asked the pitcher who the biggest cheater in baseball history was, and he replied with Cole.
‘He cheated,’ Manoah said on ‘How Hungry Are You’ in November. ‘He used a lot of sticky stuff to make his pitches better. He kind of got called out on it.’
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The sticky stuff in question was Spider Tack, a substance initially developed to aid grip in competitive weight lifting, was banned by MLB after it discovered that some pitchers were using the substance to increase speed and spin rate on pitches. Cole was arguably the most notable user of this.
On Friday night, the day before the two set up for a pitching battle in the afternoon, Manoah backed up his statement, telling reporters, ‘I said what I said’.
Toronto pitcher Alek Manoah doubled down calling Gerrit Cole baseball’s worst cheater
Manoah is facing off against Cole on Saturday afternoon at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx
‘It was a game show, and I wasn’t trying to drink cricket tea,’ said Manoah, who also said that he has ‘never really talked’ with Cole.
Tensions between Cole and Manoah began building back on August 21, when Manoah hit now-Yankees-captain Aaron Judge with a 91mph sinker.
Judge stepped toward the mound and began talking at Manoah, who said he didn’t hit the slugger on purpose. Some Yankees in the dugout – notably Cole, who wasn’t appearing that day – got onto the field to back up their teammate.
Manoah heard Cole yelling at him and challenged the starter to get closer to him.
‘I think if Gerrit wants to do something, he can walk past the Audi sign next time,’ Manoah said after that game, referencing the advertisement painted on the grass between the Yankees’ dugout and first-base line.
The two pitchers are in stark contrast to each other these days – as Cole has dominated while Manoah has struggled.
Across four starts, Cole has four wins – including a complete game shutout – with 32 strikeouts and an ERA of 0.95, having only given up three earned runs.
Meanwhile, Manoah has a win-loss record of only 1-1 across four games, with only 16 strikeouts and giving up 15 earned runs for a 6.98 ERA.
Manoah’s tension with the Yankees began when he hit slugger Aaron Judge last August
Manoah challenged Cole to come out and fight him, but says he’s more focused on getting outs and improving his pitching stats when he faces the Yankees on Saturday afternoon
Reflecting on last year’s altercation, Manoah said that he didn’t intend to make an enemy out of Judge and said that he’s focused on pitching well.
He’s returning to the place he made his major league debut back in May 2021 and hopes to perform well in front of the Yankees faithful.
‘I don’t think there were really any fireworks between me and [Judge],’ said Manoah, ‘My job is to go out there and try to get him out, and that’s what I’m going to try to do [Saturday].’
‘This is where my career started. Obviously super-excited to be able to come here, and the fans are super-passionate here, as everybody knows. It’s a great place to play.
