Manoah to miss rest of 2024 with UCL surgery

OAKLAND -- Right-hander Alek Manoah will undergo surgery to repair his right ulnar collateral ligament, Blue Jays manager John Schneider said before Friday's game against the A's. Manoah will miss at least the rest of the 2024 season.

The surgery is scheduled for June 17 with Dr. Keith Meister, who evaluated Manoah in person on Thursday. Schneider said the exact procedure -- Tommy John surgery or an internal brace -- will not be determined until after Manoah is under the knife. It will depend on the severity of the tear in his UCL.

The typical recovery for Tommy John surgery ranges from 12-18 months, whereas an internal brace procedure can result in a shorter timeline.

"You can only see so much on an MRI," Schneider said. "Once you get in there, you kind of decide what you're going to do going forward."

Manoah, 26, exited his May 29 start in Chicago after just 1 2/3 innings with right elbow discomfort. An MRI later revealed a UCL sprain, and he was placed on the 15-day injured list.

Before his injury, Manoah had seemed to be steadily turning the corner following a disastrous year. After placing third in American League Cy Young Award voting in 2022, Manoah entered '23 with lofty expectations but struggled for the first two-plus months. He was optioned to the Florida Complex League early last June and made only six more big league starts the rest of the way, finishing with a 5.87 ERA across 87 1/3 innings.

Manoah opened 2024 on the injured list with right shoulder inflammation and showed promise in five starts with the Blue Jays, posting a 3.70 ERA in 24 1/3 innings.

When Manoah's spot in the rotation last came up, Toronto used Trevor Richards as an opener in front of bulk pitcher Bowden Francis. The Blue Jays could handle the spot the same way this Sunday in Oakland when Manoah's spot comes up again, but Schneider said the situation will remain "fluid" depending on how the first two games of the series go.

Now that Manoah is out for the season, Francis could be a candidate to fill his vacant spot, and so could Yariel Rodríguez, who's progressing well as he recovers from thoracic spine inflammation. The 27-year-old from Cuba, who signed a five-year, $32 million deal to join the Blue Jays last offseason, is scheduled to pitch for Triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday to continue building up his pitch count to around 70.

"We'll see how we land after that," Schneider said. "Ideally, yeah, you'd like [the rotation] to be pretty steady and kind of keep everybody in working order in the bullpen. But I think we're ready to do [a bullpen game] at least one more time."