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Alek Manoah’s return will help the Blue Jays tremendously if he can find his 2022 form
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Photo credit: © Kamil Krzaczynski - Imagn Images
Ryley Delaney
Jun 30, 2025, 14:00 EDTUpdated: Jun 30, 2025, 06:01 EDT
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For the first time all season, the Toronto Blue Jays have a consistent starting rotation of five.
The Jays’ rotation had three pillars coming into the season: Chris Bassitt, Jose Berrios, and Kevin Gausman. Bowden Francis ended his season well, so he was basically guaranteed a spot in the rotation to start the year. Their big signing in free agency, Max Scherzer, made one start in late March before landing on the Injured List for three months.
With Scherzer returning, the Blue Jays finally have a set rotation of five, as Eric Lauer has cemented himself as a reliable left-handed pitcher in the backend of the rotation.
While the rotation now has five starters, it is by far the biggest area of concern that the Blue Jays need to address before the 2025 trade deadline. If they are to get a starter, there are a lot of game changers that will cost a pretty penny. The most notable being Sandy Alcantara.
That said, the Blue Jays may have a game changer of their own at some point in August.

Don’t forget about Alek Manoah

On Friday, it was reported by numerous sources that Alek Manoah threw another bullpen session, throwing 25 pitches. He’ll throw another one on Canada Day. The most interesting factoid is that it seems like a rehab assignment is coming sooner rather than later. If that’s the case, Manoah will be back at some point in August for the stretch run as teams have to activate a player on a rehab assignment no later than 30 days after it starts.
We all remember what happened in 2023. Manoah had one of the worst seasons for any starter that year, posting a 5.87 ERA and a 6.01 FIP in 87.1 innings pitched,  with a 19 K% and a 14.2 BB%.
It was a far cry from his Cy Young nomination year in 2022, where the right-handed pitcher finished with a 2.24 ERA and a 3.35 FIP in 196.2 innings pitched. Or even his rookie season in 2021, which saw him post a 3.22 ERA and a 3.80 FIP in 111.2 innings pitched.
Coming into the 2024 season, there wasn’t much optimism surrounding their former ace, especially once he started the season on the Injured List. When he finally made his debut on May 5, 2024, it was a “here we go again” moment as Manoah gave up seven runs, six earned, in four innings of work.
But over the next two starts, we all caught a glimpse of the old Manoah, as he pitched two consecutive games with seven innings and no earned runs allowed. His next game saw him give up four earned runs in four and two-thirds innings, not as bad as his first start of the season, but not great either.
After retiring five batters on May 29th’s start, Manoah left the game, and it was later reported that the 27-year-old required Tommy John surgery. It was rather sad, as after his first start of the season, Manoah had a 1.77 ERA and 4.15 FIP over his last four starts before missing the rest of the season.
That was over a year ago now, and their former ace is ramping up. According to Sportsnet’s Shi Davidi, Manoah was reaching 95 mph with his fastball, an encouraging sign. In his 2023 season, Manoah’s fastball sat at an average of 92.7 mph. In the other three seasons where Manoah excelled, his fastball averaged 93 mph or harder.
Is it realistic to believe Manoah will return to his 2022 form? No. However, as long as he’s a starter who posts an ERA below 4, that in itself will be a big help for the Blue Jays as they attempt to chase down the division.
What happens to the rotation afterwards, especially if they upgrade at the trade deadline, is anyone’s best guess. That said, it’s nice to see Manoah starting to get back on track because he could be huge for the Blue Jays toward the end of the season.
Ryley Delaney is a Nation Network writer for Blue Jays Nation, Oilersnation, and FlamesNation. She can be followed on Twitter @Ryley__Delaney.

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