Notícias esportivas

Alek Manoah Heads for Second Sight, Likely Facing Long-Term Absence

May 31: Manoah is looking to get a second opinion on his elbow, TSN’s Scott Mitchell reports. His initial diagnosis is not yet known, but Mitchell added that Manoah is expected to be sidelined for “a long time.”

May 29: Alek Manowa lefty started tonight against the White Sox in the second inning. The team announced that he suffered an elbow injury. Manager John Schneider told the Toronto hitters after the game that Manoah will get an MRI tomorrow (X link via Keegan Matheson of MLB.com).

Manowa missed the first month of the season after suffering a shoulder injury in the spring. He was reinstated on May 5 and has taken the ball five times. The right-hander has had an encouraging start to the season, working to a 3.70 ERA with 26 strikeouts and eight walks over 24 1/3 innings. Manoah wasn’t back to his 2022 Cy Young final form, but it was a big improvement over last year’s disappointing season.

There’s little to do now except to hope that the photography doesn’t reveal any structural concerns. Manoah’s fastball sits in the typical 92-93 MPH range during the first inning. He didn’t top 90 MPH in the second inning until he pitched Dominic Fletcher 91.4 MPH sinker to start his at-bat. Manowa appeared tense after giving up that pitch and left the game after a visit to the mound (video provided in X by Shi Davidi of Sportsnet). Trevor Richards pitched 3 1/3 scoreless innings of relief to help Toronto to a 3-1 victory.

The Jays are operating a rotation with limited depth behind their front five Kevin Gausman, Yusei Kikuchi, José Berríos, Chris Bassitt and Manoah. Signed last season Yariel Rodríguez has been on the disabled list since April 30 with back inflammation. Bowden Franciswho opened the season in rotation while Manowa was on the shelf, was out last month with arm tendonitis.

Rodríguez and Francis are each in rehab stints with Triple-A Buffalo. While both pitchers should be back soon, each has questions about their performance as starters. Rodríguez is not set for 2023 as he continues the process of applying for free agency. He has played outside the Japanese bullpen for the past two seasons. Francis was rocked in his first two MLB starts this year and quickly jumped into multi-inning relief, where he had more success last season.

Paolo Espino, who has a 4.81 ERA over eight starts with Buffalo, is the only other traditional starter on the 40-man roster. Toronto brought back an old friend Aaron Sanchez on a minor league deal earlier this month, but gave up 17 runs in 10 2/3 Triple-A innings. Beau Sulser, another recent undrafted acquisition, gave up 12 runs in 14 1/3 Triple-A innings in a swing role. High hopes Ricky Tiedemann returned to minor league IL due to nerve issues in his elbow.

If Manoah needs to go on the injured list, Espino seems like the logical choice to hold down the fort until Rodríguez is ready to return. Toronto’s rotation could look very thin in the event of another injury. While the Jays benefited from incredible rotation life last season, they relied on Richards to start a few bullpen games last summer when Manoah was a junior. Maybe they can look at that as another short-term solution, but starting the shooting range could be a priority at the deadline if the Jays are in the postseason picture in July.




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