
Blue Jays' Alek Manoah shows positive signs despite rocky debut in first game since Tommy John surgery
Blue Jays
right-hander
Alek Manoah
has made his official return to the mound.
Manoah, who underwent the
invasive procedure last June
to repair a torn ligament in his elbow, began a rehab assignment with the Florida Coast League Blue Jays on Monday morning.
The rust was apparent as the Jays' former ace allowed four runs — three earned — on a hit and two walks across one-third of an inning. He threw 10 of his 22 pitches for strikes in the debut outing.
Man felt so great to be back out there, hear the National Anthems and toe that rubber. 392 days! Thank you Jesus! Been a long journey, look forward to continuing to get better, have fun and COMPETE everyday!!
pic.twitter.com/rmSLBmgode
The pitching line doesn't matter much to the Jays at this point. Instead, it's the quality of his stuff that they will be monitoring closely and there were positives signs on that front. Manoah averaged 94.2 m.p.h. on his fastball, which was an increase from the 93.3 he averaged in 2024 prior to the injury.
'Just want to see him get out there, get hot, and go through his normal routine,' Jays manager John Schneider told reporters prior to the all-star break. '(I) have no care whatsoever about results.'
Once pitchers begin a rehab assignment, they have 30 days to recover from injury. Once the clock expires, the club must decide on the next steps. For most pitchers that would involve being added to the 26-man active roster, but in Manoah's case he has two options remaining on his contract, which means he could be kept in the minor leagues instead. The clock can also be reset in the event of a setback.
Manoah is expected to use all of those 30 days to get back into pitching shape. He has been
throwing off a mound since March
, but only with a limited number of pitches. That means he's essentially starting his own personal spring training and will use the next four weeks to continue building up endurance and working on his overall effectiveness.
It's not immediately clear what the Jays will do once Manoah is up to speed. Their rotation is currently full with Jose Berrios, Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Max Scherzer and Eric Lauer. They are also expected to try to
add another starter prior
to the July 31 trade deadline.
At the very least, Manoah would give the Jays additional depth down the stretch. It's also possible that if he looks good enough, he could supplant Lauer as a member of the starting five, especially if the Jays don't add at the deadline. That decision won't have to be made until mid-August.
Manoah's signature season came in 2022 when he went 16-7 with a 2.24 ERA. During that same year, he was named to the all-star team and finished top three in voting for the American League Cy Young Award. The now 27-year-old faltered the following season with a 5.87 ERA and he made just five appearances in 2024 before going down with the elbow injury.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Tigers aim to end 5-game losing streak, play the Blue Jays
Toronto Blue Jays (62-42, first in the AL East) vs. Detroit Tigers (60-45, first in the AL Central) Detroit; Saturday, 6:10 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Blue Jays: Kevin Gausman (7-7, 4.01 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 112 strikeouts); Tigers: Tarik Skubal (0-0) BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Tigers -196, Blue Jays +163; over/under is 7 runs BOTTOM LINE: The Detroit Tigers aim to stop their five-game losing streak when they play the Toronto Blue Jays. Detroit has a 32-20 record at home and a 60-45 record overall. The Tigers have hit 130 total home runs to rank fifth in the AL. Toronto is 25-25 in road games and 62-42 overall. The Blue Jays are 43-10 in games when they have more hits than their opponents. The matchup Saturday is the sixth time these teams match up this season. The Blue Jays hold a 3-2 advantage in the season series. TOP PERFORMERS: Spencer Torkelson has 23 doubles, 23 home runs and 61 RBIs for the Tigers. Riley Greene is 10 for 39 with a triple, three home runs and seven RBIs over the past 10 games. George Springer has 18 doubles, a triple, 17 home runs and 55 RBIs while hitting .287 for the Blue Jays. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is 15 for 38 with four doubles and a home run over the past 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Tigers: 1-9, .207 batting average, 6.46 ERA, outscored by 38 runs Blue Jays: 7-3, .284 batting average, 3.27 ERA, outscored opponents by 22 runs INJURIES: Tigers: Sean Guenther: 60-Day IL (hip), Sawyer Gipson-Long: 15-Day IL (neck), Kerry Carpenter: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Jackson Jobe: 60-Day IL (flexor), Jason Foley: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Alex Cobb: 60-Day IL (hip), Ty Madden: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jose Urquidy: 60-Day IL (elbow), Alex Lange: 60-Day IL (lat) Blue Jays: Ryan Burr: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Nick Sandlin: 15-Day IL (elbow), Andres Gimenez: 10-Day IL (ankle), Yimi Garcia: 15-Day IL (ankle), Anthony Santander: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Paxton Schultz: 15-Day IL (middle finger), Bowden Francis: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Daulton Varsho: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Alek Manoah: 60-Day IL (elbow), Angel Bastardo: 60-Day IL (elbow) ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.


Associated Press
2 hours ago
- Associated Press
Tigers aim to end 5-game losing streak, play the Blue Jays
Toronto Blue Jays (62-42, first in the AL East) vs. Detroit Tigers (60-45, first in the AL Central) Detroit; Saturday, 6:10 p.m. EDT PITCHING PROBABLES: Blue Jays: Kevin Gausman (7-7, 4.01 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 112 strikeouts); Tigers: Tarik Skubal (0-0) BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Tigers -196, Blue Jays +163; over/under is 7 runs BOTTOM LINE: The Detroit Tigers aim to stop their five-game losing streak when they play the Toronto Blue Jays. Detroit has a 32-20 record at home and a 60-45 record overall. The Tigers have hit 130 total home runs to rank fifth in the AL. Toronto is 25-25 in road games and 62-42 overall. The Blue Jays are 43-10 in games when they have more hits than their opponents. The matchup Saturday is the sixth time these teams match up this season. The Blue Jays hold a 3-2 advantage in the season series. TOP PERFORMERS: Spencer Torkelson has 23 doubles, 23 home runs and 61 RBIs for the Tigers. Riley Greene is 10 for 39 with a triple, three home runs and seven RBIs over the past 10 games. George Springer has 18 doubles, a triple, 17 home runs and 55 RBIs while hitting .287 for the Blue Jays. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is 15 for 38 with four doubles and a home run over the past 10 games. LAST 10 GAMES: Tigers: 1-9, .207 batting average, 6.46 ERA, outscored by 38 runs Blue Jays: 7-3, .284 batting average, 3.27 ERA, outscored opponents by 22 runs INJURIES: Tigers: Sean Guenther: 60-Day IL (hip), Sawyer Gipson-Long: 15-Day IL (neck), Kerry Carpenter: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Jackson Jobe: 60-Day IL (flexor), Jason Foley: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Alex Cobb: 60-Day IL (hip), Ty Madden: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Jose Urquidy: 60-Day IL (elbow), Alex Lange: 60-Day IL (lat) Blue Jays: Ryan Burr: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Nick Sandlin: 15-Day IL (elbow), Andres Gimenez: 10-Day IL (ankle), Yimi Garcia: 15-Day IL (ankle), Anthony Santander: 60-Day IL (shoulder), Paxton Schultz: 15-Day IL (middle finger), Bowden Francis: 15-Day IL (shoulder), Daulton Varsho: 10-Day IL (hamstring), Alek Manoah: 60-Day IL (elbow), Angel Bastardo: 60-Day IL (elbow) ___ The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
Joey Loperfido's solo homer (2)
Joey Loperfido hammers a solo home run to right-center field, putting the Blue Jays up 5-1 in the top of the 6th inning