Blue Jays’ Manoah struggles badly in fourth rehab start

Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Alek Manoah took a step back in his bid to return to the major leagues on Wednesday.

Manoah had control problems and was ineffective for the triple-A Buffalo Bisons in his fourth rehab start to open the season.

After allowing just one run in the first two innings despite walking three Iowa Cubs batters, Manoah gave up a three-run home run to Brennen Davis and a two-run homer to Jake Slaughter in the third on a chilly night in Buffalo.

The Bisons replaced Manoah with Nick Fraze to open the fourth.

Manoah allowed seven hits, walked four and struck out five. He needed 88 pitches to get through three innings, and had 53 strikes.

Manoah seemed to make strides last time out. He allowed two runs on six hits, struck out six and didn’t walk a batter over 5.2 innings against the Columbus Clippers last week.

Those were his best numbers during his rehab stint.

Manoah is working to earn a spot back in the major leagues after a disappointing 2023 season that saw him demoted to the minors twice and post a 5.87 ERA over 87.1 innings with Toronto.

He was a Cy Young finalist and AL All-Star in 2022.

He is currently on the 15-day injured list after suffering some shoulder soreness during spring training. He has a 30-day rehab window before the Blue Jays need to decide whether to add him to the 26-man roster or assign him to the minor leagues.

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