The Toronto Blue Jays have placed starting pitcher Alek Manoah on the 15-day injured list with a right elbow sprain, the team announced Friday.
Manoah had an MRI Thursday after leaving in the second inning of his last start against the Chicago White Sox because of right elbow discomfort. The 26-year-old threw a sinker and looked to be in discomfort which led to him leaving the game in the second inning.
The Blue Jays officially acquired right-hander Ryan Burr from the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday and added him to the roster in Manoah’s place. The team also designated righty Joel Kuhnel for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.
Manoah already had a stint on the injured list after missing the start of the season because of shoulder inflammation.
“Felt it after my start in Detroit and tried to do everything I can with the training staff through the week,” Manoah said Wednesday night. “Threw a bullpen a couple days ago, kind of felt fine. I felt like I was able to go out there and compete and give the team a chance, and just wasn’t able to.”
Manoah said he felt like he was “guarding it” into the second.
“It mostly bothers me when I extend,” he said, “so I think mentally when I told myself don’t think about it, I didn’t guard it and I kind of just got more extension than I was the previous pitches.
“Yeah, it kind of just felt really pinchy. At that point, like mentally, I was just like ‘Do I keep grinding through this and maybe make it worse or just hand the ball to somebody else?’”
In five starts this season, Manoah is 1-2 with a 3.70 ERA as he tries to get back on track after a tough 2023 season.
Last year he went 3-9 with a 5.87 ERA in 19 starts and was optioned to the minors twice. Manoah is looking to regain his form from 2022 when he had a 16-7 record with a 2.24 ERA in 31 starts to finish third in AL Cy Young voting.
