Blue Jays call-up coming? Manoah has best minor league start yet

It might not be very long before we see Alek Manoah back on the mound for the Toronto Blue Jays.

After a disastrous 2023 season, Manoah was injured in spring training this year and has been rehabbing since. The 26-year-old has had several ugly starts since, but that was far from the case yesterday.

Manoah had his best start in some time, tying a career-high in strikeouts with 12, while allowing just two hits and one earned run through six innings with Triple-A Buffalo. He threw 92 pitches in total, 62 of which were strikes.

Manoah was dealing tonight 🔥

6 IP | 2 H | 1 R | 12 K#Bisons | #TOTHECORE pic.twitter.com/Fw0kwYAIO1

— Buffalo Bisons (@BuffaloBisons) April 30, 2024

There was talk recently that despite Manoah’s struggles, Blue Jays management wanted to get him back in their rotation in the near future. The expectation if that happened was that he would replace Yariel Rodriguez, who some believe is a better option to come out of the bullpen.

The odds of Manoah being recalled seem quite high now. Not only was he electric in yesterday’s start, but Rodriguez was just placed on the 15-day injured list (IL) with back soreness, while Bowden Francis, another potential fill-in, is also on the 15-day IL with a forearm injury.

The Blue Jays currently have an open spot for Sunday’s game versus the Washington Nationals, which Manoah may very well start. If that is the case, it will be his first MLB appearance since August 10, where he allowed four earned runs through four innings in a 4-3 loss to the Cleveland Guardians.

Despite last season’s struggles, many still hope that Manoah can get back to the level he was at just two years ago. After an already impressive 2021 season, he established himself as one of the best young pitchers in the game in 2022, finishing third in Cy Young voting with a 2.24 ERA and a 16-7 record through 31 starts.

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