Ex-Blue Jays' star Alek Manoah cruises through his first MLB outing in two years

For one night and for one inning, Alek Manoah was back. The former first round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays was on a big league mound for the first time since 2024 and it was a mound he was very familiar with. Dressed in a LA Angels uniform, Manoah toed the rubber at Rogers Centre against his former team, coming into the game out of the bullpen in the eighth inning and proceeded to get a three up, three down inning.

Manoah hadn't pitched in a big league game since May 29, 2024 when he lasted just 1.2 innings against the Chicago White Sox before he was removed from the game for an injury that had since kept him sidelined. That year he underwent UCL surgery, which kept him out for the rest of the 2024 campaign, and also the entire 2025 campaign.

Manoah was working on a return to the team in 2025, but with the Blue Jays contending for the AL division title, and a real chance to win it all, he was DFA'd in September and has spent the last several months building himself back up, while making some weird claims, all culminating in his return to the big leagues on Friday night in Toronto.

Manoah passes his first test with the Angels

With the Blue Jays ahead 2-0, Manoah was brought into the game with the hopes of keeping the deficit to just two runs. Manoah did exactly that, getting Daulton Varsho to pop out to shortstop, Ernie Clement to strike out looking, and Jesús Sánchez to pop out to second.

Manoah's fastest pitch was his first one, a 94 mph four-seam fastball that hit the middle of the plate, right at the knees. From there his velocity dipped on his fastball, throwing a 90.9 mph four-seamer to Sánchez in that last at-bat. He mixed in a mid-to-high 80's change up and featured a slider that topped out at 80.5 mph.

It wasn't the most impressive or overpowering stuff we've seen from Manoah, but it was a step in the right direction for a guy that hadn't faced big league pitchers in a regular season game in over 700 days. It will be interesting to watch how Manoah bounces back physically from this first outing and if he remains in the bullpen for the rest of the season.

The 28-year-old signed a one-year, $1.95 million deal with the Angels this past offseason, with the expectation that he would compete for a spot in the rotation. But with the Angels bullpen ranked near the bottom of the league, with the team already having cut two former Blue Jays' relievers in the process, a competent Manoah could be the thing they need to turn some of those numbers around.

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