Discarded Blue Jays starter will follow a familiar fan favourite's path to redemption

It was an abrupt end to a promising tenure as a Toronto Blue Jay for their former first round pick in 2019. The Blue Jays recently DFA'd Alek Manoah, but he didn't have to wait long to be picked up. On Friday afternoon, the Atlanta Braves claimed the 27-year-old Manoah off waivers. Monah is still recovering from Tommy John Surgery, so the Braves will hope down the road that Manoah can feel return to his old self.

Monah isn't the first Blue Jay who has been picked up by the Braves after it felt like there was no room for that player on the roster anymore. The greatest example of that being José Bautista.

Manoah could become another Joey Bats in Atlanta

Bautista was at one point the face of the Blue Jays franchise. He made six All-Star game appearances, led the league in home runs and had a monumental franchise altering moment in 2015. 2017 was Bautista's final season as a Blue Jay, and he joined the Braves early into the 2018 season.

Unfortunately, Bautista's tenure with the Braves was a rough one. Batista played in just 12 games as a member of the Braves and hit .143 with just two home runs. He was then released by the Braves before being picked up by the Mets. After 83 games, the Mets traded Bautista to the Philadelphia Phillies. Bautista played in 27 games as a member of the Phillies and that was his final season as a big leaguer.

The Braves are hoping they get more than 12 games out of Manoah, who isn't that far removed from being a productive major leaguer. Manoah showed a lot of promise when he finished eighth in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2021. In 2022, Manoah was one of the top arms in the game, going to the All-Star game for the first time, winning 16 games, and finished the season with a 2.24 ERA was third in AL Cy Young voting.

In 2023 he struggled and was sent all the way down to the Blue Jays Florida Complex league to try and sort through those issues. He came back in 2024 and seemed to be on the right path, pitching in five games to a 3.70 ERA with 26 strikeouts and a tight 1.027 WHIP before he landed on the IL and needed TJ surgery. Manoah made rehab starts in Double-A and Triple-A in 2025 with the Blue Jays' minor league affiliates, but the team DFA'd him as they faced a roster crunch in the final days of the season.

Now Manoah gets a chance to rebuild himself with the Braves, just like Bautista got that opportunity with the same team. The major diffrence being Manoah, still has a lot of years left and a lot of potential to reach compared to Bautista who was at the very end of what turned into a ver successful career.