Toronto Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins says the team is weighing its options for Alek Manoah's schedule in October.
The all-star right-hander would be in line to start Game No. 162 in Baltimore next on Oct. 5, which may or may not determine if the Blue Jays have home field for a best-of-three wild-card series starting Oct. 7. He couldn't pitch in both games.
“It’s just nice to have options and to be controlling our destiny right now and have the flexibility is a good situation to be in," Atkins said before the Blue Jays faced the New York Yankees on Tuesday at Rogers Centre. "As we learn each day, we’ll continue to work through that. We recognize that home field is of some value and we recognize winning Game 1 of any playoff series is of significant value. We’ll continue to work through those scenarios."
If the Blue Jays have wrapped up top spot in the wild-card race before Oct. 5, it would be a no-brainer to hold Manoah for the playoffs.
It becomes a trickier decision if first in the wild-card race is still up for grabs on Oct. 5.
The Blue Jays entered Tuesday's play 2.5 games up on the Tampa Bay Rays and three ahead of the Seattle Mariners.
Toronto must finish ahead of those teams to win the wild-card race as the Blue Jays do not own the tiebreaker.
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