Blue Jays Spring Training Update: Injury news on Tiedemann, Rodriguez and Manoah

Three separate Blue Jays pitchers have been dealing with minor injuries, causing them to miss some time recently and delaying their ramp up for the regular season. 

The first of which is Ricky Tiedemann, the Blue Jays’ top prospect who’s expected to contribute to the MLB club at some point in 2024. Tiedemann was penciled in to start the club’s first game of the spring, but has since been hampered by inflammation in his left leg. 

Tiedemann has been coming along in terms of recovery from the minor injury. John Schneider stated he looked good in a recent bullpen session and is due for a live BP sometime soon. With this injury proving to be minor, Tiedemann should see spring training games soon barring another setback. It's unlikely the talented lefty breaks camp with the Jays, but a healthy Tiedemann is an excellent candidate to provide some relief should the pitching staff need to reach into its depth later in the season.

Blue Jays fans have also been waiting for the spring debut of newly signed Yariel Rodriguez. There’s video of his live BP outings, but he’s yet to grace a mound in a game. 

Schneider states that Rodriguez has been experiencing back spasms, another injury perceived to be minor. The plan is to get him back on a mound this weekend as he works towards game action.

It’s unclear how exactly this affects his build up for the season. It was reported that he’d be built up as a starter for 2024. This could still be the same approach regardless of his injury, but it may affect his chances of breaking camp with the team at the end of the month. Similar to Tiedemann, expect to see Rodriguez on a mound soon assuming there are no setbacks.

Alek Manoah is the latest pitcher to present an injury. It was reported this morning that the former All-Star is experienced right shoulder soreness during a recent bullpen session. An MRI revealed no structural damage, so the Jays are taking it day by day at this point. Schneider said they’ll check back in on Tuesday and decide the next steps from there.

Manoah was originally scheduled to start Sunday's game against the Red Sox in Fort Myers, that is no longer the case. There aren’t many pitchers under a microscope this spring as much as Manoah, so it’ll be interesting to see how this will affect him and the rest of the rotation heading into the season.