toronto blue jays

Toronto Blue Jay claps back against claim that MLB players don't like Canada

Alek Manoah wants to make one thing clear: the Toronto Blue Jays is Canada’s team.

Manoah, the Jays’ 24-year-old star pitcher, hasn’t even had two full years calling the country home since receiving his first MLB call-up in the summer of 2021.

But Manoah wasn’t having it when Blue Jays fan — and popular video game streamer KevinGohD — turned his frustration about the team’s slow offseason into a generalization about how players feel about the country of Canada as a whole.

“Starting to think MLB players really don’t like Canada… Either that or somebody has [Blue Jays general manager] Ross Atkins locked in a trunk,” KevinGohD posted on Wednesday.

Despite his popularity — 278,000 YouTube subscribers and 81k followers on Twitter — KevinGohD probably didn’t expect one of the team’s stars to pick up on his frustration, though.

“Being the only team that represents an entire nation is a blessing,” Manoah wrote in a quote tweet of KevinGohD. “Especially an entire country that is passionate about all their sports teams. And Toronto being a very diverse and fun city to live and play in is amazing too. It’s a beautiful opportunity for all of us!”

“MY KING IS HERE,” an impassioned KevinGohD replied, suggesting maybe he’s admitting a little defeat when one of his team’s top players is coming through with the quote tweet dunk.

In Manoah’s two seasons so far, he has a record 25 wins, 9 losses, an ERA of 2.60, and 307 strikeouts while being named a Cy Young finalist in his first full season this past year.

If he’s a fan of playing in Canada, there’s no reason why other stars shouldn’t feel the same way.

We are wondering if Atkins is in that trunk, though.

Lead photo by

Blue Jays


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