TORONTO — The Blue Jays placed starter Yariel Rodriguez on the 15-day injured list with thoracic spine inflammation on Tuesday. It’s a roster move that creates intriguing questions for the club and also intensifies the spotlight on right-hander Alek Manaoh, who dominated in his latest triple-A outing.
There are a few moving pieces here and plenty to consider, so let’s dive right in.
WHAT’S UP WITH RODRIGUEZ?
Rodriguez aggravated his back during the first inning of Monday’s win over the Kansas City Royals. He pitched through the issue — allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits over 3.2 innings and 82 pitches — but noticed the pain had grown worse when he woke up on Tuesday morning, prompting the IL stint.
It’s worth noting that Rodriguez was behind schedule during spring training because of back spasms. Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Tuesday that Rodriguez’s current injury is “a little bit similar.” The right-hander won’t throw for the next five days and will be re-evaluated after that.
Rodriguez, who signed a five-year deal with the Blue Jays in the off-season, pitched for the Chunichi Dragons of Japan’s Central League in 2022 before missing all of last year while coming to North America. The 27-year-old has made four starts this season and owns a 4.11 ERA over 15.1 innings.
WHAT’S UP WITH MANOAH?
Manoah gave Blue Jays decision-makers something to chew on with his outing for the Bisons on Tuesday against the Pittsburgh Pirates’ triple-A affiliate.
Engaged in a pitcher’s duel with right-hander Paul Skenes — the top pitching prospect in MLB — Manoah shoved. The right-hander allowed just two hits and one run (a solo homer) over six innings. He walked two and struck out a whopping 12 while relying mostly on a slider that generated 13 whiffs and a sinker that produced five whiffs.
Skenes didn’t blink over his six shutout frames and while Manoah lost that battle, this was easily the best of his five starts with the Bisons this season.
Schneider said on Tuesday the Blue Jays have been happy with the Manoah’s stuff so far, but the team needed to see him throw strikes. The right-hander did that against Indianapolis, tossing 62 strikes among his 92 pitches (67 per cent).
The manager had a chance to quickly review reports from Manoah’s outing following the Blue Jays’ 4-1 loss to the Royals Tuesday night at Rogers Centre.
“They were really good,” Schneider said. “Career-high in strikeouts, stuff was electric, looked like a lot of swing and miss with the slider. Really, really good.
“When everyone asks what are you looking for from Alek, that was it,” he continued. “And maybe even a little bit more just getting into the part of the game where he should with his pitch count being where it was. I think the 12 strikeouts was probably a little bit of a bonus, but his stuff looked really, really good.”
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
The Blue Jays will have to make some decisions in the coming days and there are a few different paths the club could manoeuvre.
The easy call would be for the club to call up Manoah to start Sunday’s game against the Washington Nationals. That would have been Rodriguez’s next scheduled start and simply swapping out the injured right-hander for Manoah would make things straightforward.
However, the Blue Jays have some options here.
Manoah’s 30-day rehab stint expires next Monday, meaning he could squeeze in one more triple-A start on Sunday before the Blue Jays make a decision on whether to recall him. If he’s healthy and not ultimately recalled, Manoah would technically have to be optioned on May 7, a move that would ensure Manoah stays in triple-A for at least 15 more days, unless someone on the big-league roster goes on the injured list.
Should the Blue Jays opt to keep Manoah in the minors this weekend, triple-A right-hander Paolo Espino could be a candidate to start against Washington, perhaps in some combination of a bullpen game.
Confused yet? Well, here’s yet another wrinkle: The Blue Jays could actually keep the status quo in place for a while, running with the same four-man rotation of Jose Berrios, Chris Bassitt, Yusei Kikuchi and Kevin Gausman.
Because the Blue Jays play just six times in the next nine days, they technically don’t need a fifth starter until May 14 in Baltimore. The club could easily use the three off-days to ensure their starters each pitch on regular rest, but doing so would cost Berrios, Bassitt, Kikuchi and Gausman an extra day of recovery, thus nullifying the built-in benefits of scheduled off-days.
That’s a lot to think about and the Blue Jays will no doubt be investing much thought into the course forward. Stay tuned.
