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TORONTO — Unlike some past prospect promotions around these parts, Alek Manoah doesn’t come with the most hype or the highest expectations.

That’s mostly due to the fact that the 2019 11th overall pick barely had a chance to get that hype train moving, needing just 35 minor-league innings before the Toronto Blue Jays had seen enough and decided to tap the big 23-year-old Floridian for his major-league debut Wednesday night at Yankee Stadium. (Editor's note: Manoah's debut has been delayed after Wednesday's game was postponed due to inclement weather. The game will be made up as part of a doubleheader starting at 4:05pm et Thursday.)

It’s not to say Manoah’s debut isn’t highly anticipated, but the reasonable hype and expectations — as reasonable as they get in a social media world, anyway — are good things.

“He earned his chance to get here,” manager Charlie Montoyo said of Manoah, who has a chance to reshape the way the Jays’ rotation is viewed heading into the month of June. “We’ll see what he does and we’re not going to put that much expectations on him. We’re going to let him pitch and see what he does. I’m glad the expectations aren’t that high, like they were for Vladdy.”

Despite that notion, Manoah could be the key name of the second wave of homegrown prospects that the Blue Jays’ front office will be summoning over the next year and a half, one who could give the rotation the right-handed power element that it currently lacks.

But that’s also what we thought about Nate Pearson nearly 10 months ago, providing a bit of a recent cautionary tale and showing how rare it is for pitching prospects to seamlessly transition to the majors.

Young pitchers usually take their lumps.

Manoah might, too.

Or he might not.

That’s what makes the Manoah promotion so intriguing, given the circumstances.

This is a team in contention and turning to Manoah is a great way for the front office to prove to the players and coaching staff that no stone will be left unturned in their effort to get to the 90-plus wins that will be needed in the American League East.

If Manoah hits the ground running and looks like a capable major-league starter from the jump, it could suddenly give the Jays a high-upside rotation option you could dream of wedging between lefties Hyun Jin Ryu and Robbie Ray.

Add in the flashes of brilliance from Steven Matz, and Montoyo would be 80 per cent of the way to the most reliable five-man rotation the Jays have rostered in a long time.

That would then give the front office until the July 30 trade deadline to augment that situation even further, perhaps in a very splashy, top-of-the-rotation way.

There’s also a chance, despite the spring training dominance against these same New York Yankees, that Manoah will need more seasoning in Triple-A in order to refine the changeup, dial in the command and continue pitching deep into ballgames.

Matt Buschmann, the Jays’ bullpen coach and director of pitching development, believes most of the development left will be behind the scenes.

“The biggest thing on the transition is when you get to the big leagues, it’s just the day-to-day routine,” Buschmann said of Manoah. “How do you go from prospect to good major- league pitcher? How do you prevent coming up here and having the highs, but knowing that there’s four or five months left in the season and now you’re pitching every fifth, sixth day against really good teams and how do you manage that?

“It’s the little things behind the scenes that give you confidence.”

The fastball/slider combination and Manoah’s competitiveness will give him a chance to make the transition a smooth one, but the exact same could be said of Pearson a year ago and he’s still trying to find his way.

Since the day he was drafted two years ago, it has been apparent confidence won’t be an issue for Manoah, a young pitcher who truly believes in his stuff.

“It’s amazing, man,” Manoah beamed ahead of his debut. “Obviously, the team has confidence in me to throw me into the fire and I’m ready to go, man. As long as that mound is still 60 feet, 6 inches, we’ve got a shot.”

That self-belief is evident to Buschmann, too, and it’s a big part of the equation as to why Manoah is in the majors after just 35 tune-up innings.

“Just spending more and more time around him, the more and more you start to go, ‘Yeah, it makes sense,’” Buschmann said.

But even the best prospects have those initial mental hurdles to clear, whether they’ll admit it or not.

“There’s always that question mark, especially getting thrown into the fire,” Manoah said. “Am I going to be good? Am I as good as they think I am?”

With a team in contention heading into June, the time to find out is now.​