{"id":97503,"date":"2025-03-14T22:18:11","date_gmt":"2025-03-15T02:18:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=97503"},"modified":"2025-03-14T22:18:11","modified_gmt":"2025-03-15T02:18:11","slug":"blue-jays-alek-manoah-future-following-tommy-john","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/03\/14\/blue-jays-alek-manoah-future-following-tommy-john\/","title":{"rendered":"Alek Manoah Throws from Mound for First Time Since Tommy John Surgery"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a positive sign for his and the team&#8217;s future, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah threw his first mound session today since undergoing Tommy John surgery. This was a big step forward for the 2022 AL Cy Young Award finalist, who had the major operation last June 17th. The procedure consisted of a collateral ligament replacement while also including an internal brace suture. But the good news is that Manoah is now past the most difficult obstacles of his recovery. The 27-year-old showed strong promise in his performance, which has signaled signs of his return to dominant form. Manoah was seeking his <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/02\/18\/alek-manoah-2024-blue-jays\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">redemption tour<\/a> last season but didn&#8217;t earn the results he was hoping for.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Alek Manoah\u2019s first pitches off a mound since June, 2024. <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/BlueJays?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#BlueJays<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qX9G0SGcSG\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/qX9G0SGcSG<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KeeganMatheson\/status\/1900552407106404673?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 14, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>Alek Manoah&#8217;s Future Looking Bright Following Tommy John Surgery<\/h2>\n<p>In Manoah&#8217;s bullpen session, he successfully struck out Trey Lipscomb with his sinker while also striking out teammate Alejandro Kirk. He also finished the inning, striking out another batter. All things considered, it was a strong performance, but what does Manoah&#8217;s future hold with the Blue Jays this season? Toronto&#8217;s current starting rotation consists of Kevin Gausman, Jos\u00e9 Berr\u00edos, Max Scherzer, Chris Bassitt, and Bowden Francis. While the Blue Jays could add a sixth starter to the rotation, Yariel Rodr\u00edguez has already been highlighted as a possible fit in the rotation and has been making starts in camp this season.<\/p>\n<p>But Rodr\u00edguez&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2025\/02\/07\/ross-atkins-discusses-role-yariel-rodriguez-blue-jays\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">role<\/a> hasn&#8217;t been defined yet. It is possible he will be utilized as a high-leverage reliever in the bullpen. The Blue Jays&#8217; bullpen has been boosted this season with the <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/12\/10\/yimi-garcia-signs-two-year-deal-blue-jays\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">return<\/a> of Yimi Garc\u00eda and the acquisition of Jeff Hoffman. But the bullpen is already facing injuries to Erik Swanson and Ryan Burr. It was disclosed through an MRI that Swason&#8217;s elbow discomfort resulted in a diagnosis of median nerve entrapment. But the good news was that it revealed no structural damage. Burr has been dealing with right shoulder fatigue, with his timetable of return still unknown. Both injuries indicate that additional arms in the bullpen are needed.<\/p>\n<h3>A Possible Call to the Pen<\/h3>\n<p>While the Blue Jays officially re-signed Dillon Tate to an MLB deal on March 12th, providing them with more depth, having Manoah pitch in the bullpen would provide the relief corps with more experience. Manoah hasn&#8217;t pitched in the majors since last May 29. He was shut down for the season following his <a href=\"http:\/\/twordonsports.com\/baseball\/2024\/05\/31\/blue-jays-alek-manoah-elbow-injury\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">elbow injury<\/a>. Manoah has often gone through struggles that have occasionally forced the Blue Jays to send him down to the minors. Realistically speaking, considering these circumstances, having him pitch in the bullpen might be the most suitable for him.<\/p>\n<p>This would also provide the Blue Jays with extended depth and would help boost his confidence. The last thing the Blue Jays want is to force him into the rotation before he&#8217;s ready. This would place him in an uncomprising position, which could set back his progress. Alek Manoah&#8217;s struggles as a starting pitcher back in 2023 have heightened uncertainty about his future role with the Blue Jays. But a move to the pen could help him regain his form and confidence by pitching fewer innings, similar to Rodr\u00edguez.<\/p>\n<div class=\"message__5126c cozyMessage__5126c groupStart__5126c wrapper_c19a55 cozy_c19a55 zalgo_c19a55\" role=\"article\" data-list-item-id=\"chat-messages___chat-messages-1234850104515629097-1350221466309890108\" aria-labelledby=\"message-username-1350221466309890108 uid_1 message-content-1350221466309890108 uid_2 message-timestamp-1350221466309890108\">\n<div class=\"buttonContainer_c19a55\">\n<div class=\"buttons__5126c container__040f0 isHeader__040f0\" role=\"group\" aria-label=\"Message Actions\">\n<div class=\"buttonsInner__5126c popover_f84418 popoverReactionHoverBar_f84418 wrapper_f7ecac\">\n<div class=\"hoverBarButton_f84418 button_f7ecac\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Click to react with thumbsup\">\n<div class=\"icon_f84418 buttonContent_f84418\">\n<div class=\"emoji emoji__040f0\" role=\"img\" data-type=\"emoji\" data-name=\"\ud83d\udc4d\" aria-label=\"\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"hoverBarButton_f84418 button_f7ecac\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Click to react with fire\">\n<div class=\"icon_f84418 buttonContent_f84418\">\n<div class=\"emoji emoji__040f0\" role=\"img\" data-type=\"emoji\" data-name=\"\ud83d\udd25\" aria-label=\"\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"hoverBarButton_f84418 button_f7ecac\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Click to react with joy\">\n<div class=\"icon_f84418 buttonContent_f84418\">\n<div class=\"emoji emoji__040f0\" role=\"img\" data-type=\"emoji\" data-name=\"\ud83d\ude02\" aria-label=\"\">Photo Credit: \u00a9 Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a positive sign for his and the team&#8217;s future, Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Alek Manoah threw his first mound session today since undergoing Tommy John surgery. This was a big step forward for the 2022 AL Cy Young Award finalist, who had the major operation last June 17th. The procedure consisted of a collateral [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4831,"featured_media":97506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[7,1071],"tags":[5091,2650,5047,4352,28716,1233,28754,3494],"class_list":["post-97503","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bluejays","category-mlb","tag-alejandro-kirk","tag-alek-manoah","tag-erik-swanson","tag-jeff-hoffman","tag-ryan-burr","tag-tommy-john-surgery","tag-trey-lipscomb","tag-yimi-garcia"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97503","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4831"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=97503"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97503\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":97507,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97503\/revisions\/97507"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/97506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97503"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97503"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97503"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}