Alek Manoah has quickly risen toward the top of the starting pitcher ranks in the American League. Courtesy photo

MORGANTOWN — Demonstrative would be one way to describe the on-mound behavior of former WVU Mountaineer pitcher Alek Manoah, now winning games for the Toronto Blue Jays.

Manoah wouldn’t have to do anything but breathe to make an instant impression, so large is his presence at 6-foot-6 and about 280 pounds.

But his 2022 early-season performances have made him one of the American League’s most-noticed pitchers. He was 7-1, with a 1.81 earned run average, before making a start this past Monday.

In his last 11 starts, he had gone at least six innings and allowed two runs or fewer in nine of those appearances.

Manoah arrived in Morgantown in 2016, after graduating from South Dade High School in Homestead, Fla. — a place best known for its tomato fields and other truck farms rather than the home of able-bodied baseball players.

Manoah did not weigh 280 pounds when leaving South Dade for Morgantown, but his physical presence was not enough to interest baseball scouts and he had not shown much in the way of pitching acumen.

He went undrafted, after an unremarkable career with the Rebels. West Virginia did not have to offer him the world to have him accept its scholarship offer.

It wasn’t until his sophomore year (2018), when he began to harness his sometimes unreliable control and learn a new pitch — a bat-missing slider.

Manoah spent the summer of 2018 pitching in the player-rich Cape Cod league, where he piqued the attention of scouts for the first time.

Back at WVU for his junior year (2019), he quickly showed his marked improvement, by becoming the Big 12 Conference Pitcher of the Year and showing a 9-4 record with a 2.08 earned run average in 16 starts. He struck out 144 in 108.1 innings.

The Toronto Blue Jays drafted him the first round in 2019, and he agreed to a contract that included a signing bonus of 4.55 million.

There was no minor league baseball in 2020, because of the COVID-19 Pandemic. Buffalo, a class AAA team, was his first stop in 2021, but he was quickly promoted to Toronto after three starts had yielded a 3-0 record, 1.50 earned run average and 27 strikeouts in only 18 innings.

His major league debut came on May 27, 2021.

Manoah is not a quiet assassin. He shows his effusive emotions, much like he does his arm-covering tattoos — openly.

Should he be selected to the American League All-Star team, Manoah would only be the second West Virginia University player to be so honored. Left-handed pitcher John Means — now sidelined with arm problems that required Tommy John surgery — is the other former Mountaineer.

Toronto trails the white-hot New York Yankees in the standings, but along with Tampa Bay in the East Division picture, is a prime candidate for a wild card berth into the playoffs.

Still only 24 years old, Manoah has quickly risen toward the top of the starting pitcher ranks in the American League.