A former Toronto Blue Jays ace had a rough season, but not for the same reason as the year below.

Alek Manoah was arguably the best Blue Jays’ pitching from 2021 and 2022, but had a rough 2023 season. The 2024 season was supposed to be his revenge season, to prove all the doubters wrong, but in mid-June, Manoah had season-ending Tommy John surgery and is set to be out for 12-14 months.

His tenure with the Jays was brief, but Manoah looked to be showing signs of the pitcher he was a couple of seasons ago. Let’s look at his short revenge tour.

The story of Manoah’s 2024 season goes back to his first two seasons in the big leagues. Manoah was selected 11th overall in the 2019 draft by Toronto, making his debut at Yankees Stadium in May of 2021. Through his first two seasons, Manoah had a 2.60 ERA and a 3.51 FIP in 308.1 innings pitched, with a 24.7 K% and a 7.3%. The 6’6″ righty finished eighth in the American League Rookie of the Year voting in 2021 and third in the American League Cy Young voting in 2022.

It all came crashing down for Manoah in 2023 though. In 87.1 innings pitched, Manoah finished with a 5.87 ERA and a 6.01 FIP, with a 19 K% and a 14.2 BB%. No longer was Manoah the dominant pitcher that battled through anything, instead he lost his spot in the rotation and was optioned to the Florida Complex League.

Still, it was only a year, so what did Manoah’s 2024 entail? It started rough, as he dealt with a shoulder injury during the 2024 Spring Training. Eventually, the 26-year-old worked his way back to the big league team in early May and was promptly hit around in his first start, giving up six earned runs (seven in total) in four innings pitched.

However, Manoah pitched back-to-back 7+ inning games, giving up no earned runs and striking out 13 batters. His penultimate start of the season wasn’t great though, giving up four earned runs in 4.2 innings pitched. Five days later, he was pulled from his start against the Chicago White Sox, eventually getting the diagnosis that he needed Tommy John Surgery.

Overall, Manoah finished the season with a 3.70 ERA and a 5.18 FIP in five outings, or 24.1 innings pitched. All things considered, he showed flashes of the dominance he had in 2021 and 2022, even if it was a sad end to his season. As for his return, Manoah could return towards the end of next season, likely in either August or September after a rehab assignment.