Blue Jays pitcher Manoah to have reconstructive right elbow surgery and miss the rest of the season

By JANIE McCAULEY
AP Baseball Writer

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Toronto Blue Jays starter Alek Manoah will undergo reconstructive right elbow surgery and miss the rest of the season.

The decision came after Manoah was examined by Dr. Keith Meister, who will perform the operation on June 17. Manager John Schneider said it was unclear what exactly would be done, whether a full Tommy John ligament replacement or a procedure to place an internal brace into the elbow joint — more was to be known once Meister saw the state of Manoah’s ulnar collateral ligament.

“In that situation you’re kind of preparing for the worst and hoping for the best,” Schneider said. “It was conversations that he had with us and the training staff, we knew it was a possibility.”

Manoah has been sidelined since May 30 with a sprained pitching elbow. He went 1-2 with a 3.70 ERA over five starts spanning 24 1/3 innings.

With Manoah out, Schneider said he’s not ready to say exactly how the Blue Jays will fill the rotation void.

Right-hander Yariel Rodríguez is set to start for Triple-A Buffalo on Tuesday with the hopes of building his pitch count up to close to 70 and if all goes well there’s a chance he could return from inflammation in his thoracic spine and rejoin Toronto’s rotation.

Rodríguez is 1-2 with a 4.11 ERA over four starts and 15 1/3 innings this year.

“We’ll see how we land after that,” Schneider said. “Ideally you’d like something to be pretty steady and kind of keep everyone in working order in the bullpen. … How it unfolds here and again trying to think of what’s right for all the guys that are in the bullpen, Bowden (Francis) included, and how you can use him most effectively as well. So we’ll see after Tuesday and hopefully it goes well.”

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