MLB analyst Anthony Recker criticized Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah for his level of conditioning, and the Toronto ace responded … emphatically.
On MLB Tonight on Wednesday, Recker said “Alek Manoah. I love you, Alek … just show me you’re willing to put a little more time in the gym and you’re gonna be there consistently for a bit longer. I still love you.”
Recker might love Manoah, but the feeling apparently isn’t mutual. The comments from Recker didn’t sit well with the 6’ 6”, 285-pound Manoah, who is the odds-on favorite to be Toronto’s Opening Day starter this spring. Manoah took Recker to task on Twitter, which sparked a back-and-forth exchange between the two.
“Hey [Anthony Recker], my job isn’t to please you,” Manoah wrote. “You are an outsider. You don’t know me or my work ethic. What I do in the gym has clearly worked. Check the numbers…sucks you can’t say the same for yourself.”
Recker tried to diffuse the situation in a response to the tweet, but things only got worse.
“Don’t let someone throw a video out of context at you and get you upset,” Recker tweeted back. “You’re an incredible talent man and I’d love to see you make the most of that. I hope I see you continue to get better and be great for a long time. I wish I had even a tiny speck of the talent you do. This was never meant to be shade…obviously someone wanted to make it seem that way.”
Manoah fired back once again, as he clearly thought Recker’s response was insincere.
“You’re just like everyone else. Love to talk and then wanna say sorry when you get called out. If you wanna see an All-Star, First-Team All-MLB and Cy Young finalist trains, come meet me at Manoah Driven.”
Manoah Driven is a Miami gym owned by Manoah and his brother Eric where Manoah trains in the offseason. Manoah Driven made sure to tweet out a video of Manoah training to have its say in the Twitter feud.
Manoah’s numbers speak for themselves. The 25-year-old has posted a 25–9 record and 2.60 ERA across his two major league seasons. As for Recker, he retired in 2017 after seven MLB seasons. He hit just .199 for his career with 18 home runs and 70 RBI.
Alas, it sounds as if these two won’t be exchanging fruit baskets anytime soon.
