The odyssey of Alek Manoah continues.
It was reported by several journalists on Wednesday morning that Alek Manoah will move his rehab up to Triple-A, and will start on Saturday.
It’s #BlueJays rehab season down in Triple-A Buffalo:
• Danny Jansen will DH today and catch twice over the weekend
• Jordan Romano and Erik Swanson will both pitch tomorrow.
• Alek Manoah will start Saturday.— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) April 10, 2024
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After the 2022 season where he finished third in American League Cy Young voting, Manoah had an abysmal 2023 season where he was optioned twice and was even hit around by the New York Yankees Florida Complex League team.
It looked as if the 2024 season would see him turn his fortunes around as he came into camp looking slim and his velocity being around where it was in 2022. However, in his first and only Spring Training game, he allowed four earned runs in 1.2 innings pitched while hitting three batters and walking one.
In a side session a few days later, he felt something in his shoulder and didn’t pitch in another Grapefruit League, starting the 2024 season on the Injured List. Well, he made his season debut on a rehab assignment with the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays this past Sunday, where it uh, didn’t go great.
Manoah finished with a line of 1.2 IP, 5 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, and one home run given up while walking the first four batters he faced. It was a similar outing to the one he had in the Florida Complex League in his first minor league outing, where he gave up double digit runs and just didn’t have a fun time.
Uhhhh, Alek Manoah just gave up a home run and it is now 6-1 for the Lakeland Flying Tigers. pic.twitter.com/xKXEXVaJjs
— Brennan Delaney (@Brennan_L_D) April 7, 2024
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However, there were some good things that came from this start, as his fastball averaged 94.4 mph and touched 96.2 mph, over a mph faster than he averaged last season. On top of that, the D-Jays had a terrific comeback, erasing a 7-1 deficit with a walk-off home run from Manuel Beltre.
MANUEL BELTRE WALK OFF HOME RUN pic.twitter.com/14vriong7e
— Brennan Delaney (@Brennan_L_D) April 7, 2024
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Mentioning that start in the FCL last season, Manoah moved to Double-A for his next start where he actually finished with a solid line of 5 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 10 K, before eventually getting the call back up to Toronto and pitching slightly better than his first stint.
Rehabs are more about the process rather than results, but hopefully the results will be a little bit kinder to Manoah when he toes the rubber on Saturday afternoon.
As always, you can follow me on Twitter @Brennan_L_D.
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