After a brutal 2023 season, the right-hander Alec Manoa Returned to the Blue Jays rotation in early May looking to re-establish himself as one of the top young players in the game. Unfortunately, that run didn’t even last a month, as Manoa was sidelined after just five games and underwent Tommy John surgery in early June. Since then, the timetable for the right-hander’s return to the mound has been unclear, but Manoa himself recently told the Toronto Star during an interview on its “Deep Left Field” baseball podcast The New York Times’ Mike Wilner provided an update. During the interview, Manoah identified August as his target for a return to racing.
“…to be a deadline acquisition for the Toronto Blue Jays and help out in any way I can in the last two months of the season, that’s what I’m working towards,” Manoa said on the podcast. “I’m trying to get into the bullpen in March, get into the field BP in June, and then do some rehab and hopefully help this team get through this.”
According to this schedule, Manoa would be back on the mound in Toronto approximately fourteen months after first undergoing surgery. It’s not an unusual timeline for the right-hander, as rehab from Tommy John surgery typically takes 12 to 18 months, although Manoah admitted that “bumps in the road” may keep him from making plans ideal schedule becomes complicated or delayed.
Of course, even a healthy return to the mound in early August would pose some problems. The right-hander was last healthy and productive in 2022, when he posted a 2.24 ERA in 196 2/3 innings for the Jays, en route to AL Cy Young Award voting. third place and was selected to the All-Star Game for the first time. The stellar performance seemed to indicate Manoa was poised for long-term success at the front of Toronto’s rotation, but the 2023 season derailed that plan as he struggled with a 5.87 ERA and 6.01 ERA in 19 starts. FIP and landed in the minor leagues after poor performance.
Manoa returned to the Jaybirds rotation last May with mixed results. His 3.70 ERA in five starts is solid enough, while his 25.2% strikeout rate and 7.8% walk rate are broadly consistent with his 2021 and ’22 numbers. Having said that, when the batsmen came into contact with Manoah’s pitch, he was crushed. He allowed five home runs in just 24 1/3 innings last year and posted a horrendous 10.8 percent clip. Of course, the sample size is only 65 at-bats, and considering Manoa underwent UCL surgery shortly after, it’s reasonable to question what impact this performance will have on his ability when he returns to the mound. It’s certainly not impossible to imagine the 27-year-old Manoa re-establishing himself as a quality rotation player after emerging from rehab and starting pitching again.
At the same time, however, the Jays are building a rotation for 2025 but don’t expect him to be a major part of it. As things stand, veterans Kevin Gausman, Jose Berriosand Chris Bassett Stand in a trio while bowden francis High end results at the end of the 2024 season. Ariel Rodriguez It is currently expected that the group will complete Jack Burrows Available as a depth option in Triple-A. right-handed Jeff Hoffman Late last week, he signed a three-year contract with the club that guarantees him $33MM in salary, but despite speculation all winter long that he might be considered out of the rotation with the next club, the Jayhawks have Said they would use him in the upcoming games.
Even without Hoffman involved, this is a decent rotation, but there’s clearly room for improvement. Gausman is having his worst season since last year’s 2020 season; his 3.82 ERA (105+ ERA) and 21.4% strikeout rate are down nearly ten percentage points from last year . Berrios pitched with middling results last year but also had troubling outside attributes, including a 19.5% strikeout rate and a 4.72 FIP. Both numbers suggest that if Berrios can’t bounce forward, he may be positioned more as a back-spinner, which may also be Bassett’s best position given his ranking among his peers. The ERA was lower than the 4.16 average last year in the -35 season.
Given all the questions surrounding the rotation heading into 2025, with the hope that Gausman can bounce back and Francis also hopes to prove his ability to pitch above average as a starter throughout the season, the club has opted to work with him this winter. Some free agent starters have made connections. Both corbyn burns and Max Fried While Toronto participates in both markets, it has landed elsewhere, but Jack Flaherty and Nick Pivetta Still available as a potential upgrade with clubs reporting interest.
