The Blue Jays are about to get a lot stronger.
Blue Jays Get Excellent Alek Manoah Injury Update on Thursday originally appeared on Athlon Sports.
Amid what’s quickly become a special summer, the Toronto Blue Jays are inching closer to bolstering their pitching staff even further.
Only a week after acquiring former AL Cy Young winner Shane Bieber from the Cleveland Guardians, the Blue Jays received excellent news on another injured starting pitcher. Alek Manoah, who is recovering from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, allowed two runs and walked three over a three-inning start with Double-A New Hampshire on Thursday night.
Trust us when we say the Blue Jays likely care about two numbers, and they’re not runs or walks. Manoah’s nine outs and 64 pitches thrown are his most in both categories since starting the rehab assignment last month.
The 27-year-old Manoah is expected to rejoin the Blue Jays either later this month or earlier in September. It is unclear how the Blue Jays will use Manoah, who has never been a reliever in the majors, when he returns to the majors.
Manoah looked like the league’s next budding star when he posted a 2.24 ERA, a 180-51 K-BB ratio, and 6.0 bWAR in 2022. However, he went 3-9 with a 5.87 ERA in 2023 and later refused a minor-league demotion.
Optimistic Blue Jays may point to Manoah’s 3.70 ERA across 24 1/3 innings last year for reasons to be hopeful. We’ll try not to point out that he allowed five home runs in that time.
Regardless, the 66-48 Blue Jays entered Friday with a four-game lead in the AL East. Toronto’s .586 winning percentage leads all American League teams, and they would be the AL’s No. 1 seed if the playoffs began today.
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This story was originally reported by Athlon Sports on Aug 8, 2025, where it first appeared.
Category: Baseball
