How important is it for the Maple Leafs to trade for a top defenceman?
James Mirtle joins the JD Bunkis Podcast to discuss how big of a priority it is for the Toronto Maple Leafs to trade for a top-four defenceman, compared to their need to bring in a centre in light of Auston Matthews’ ongoing injury struggles.
It’s been a turbulent few years for Alek Manoah.
The 26-year-old pitcher has gone from the highs of striking out the side in the MLB All-Star Game and being a Cy Young finalist in 2022, to the lows of having one of the worst ERAs of any qualified pitcher in the Major Leagues before being optioned to the minors in 2023.
Then, in 2024, when things were looking up, Manoah experienced a pinching sensation in his right elbow. It was confirmed that he required surgery on his ulnar collateral ligament and on June 18, 2024, he underwent a hybrid Tommy John procedure, replacing the ligament and anchoring the new one with an internal brace suture.
Nearly seven months later, Manoah was in good spirits as he joined the Toronto Star‘s Mike Wilner on the Deep Left Field podcast.
“It’s been going great, honestly. I thank the lord for so much, for everything, through this process up to now,” said Manoah on Thursday. “I’ve just really been putting my head down and working my tail off. Just grateful to see weekly progressions. It’s even crazy to think back right now, you just said seven months, and for me it’s just week after week, day after day, just stacking those.”
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Last season, after dealing with early minor injury trouble, Manoah appeared to be getting back on track. He got shelled in his first outing, but proceeded to post back-to-back seven-inning shutouts in May against the Minnesota Twins and Tampa Bay Rays.
Before being declared out for the season, the six-foot-six right-hander pitched to a 3.70 ERA and 1.03 WHIP with 26 strikeouts and eight walks over 24.1 innings.
“Mentality-wise, and passion-wise and heart-wise, and competitive-wise, 100 per cent I was there. Stuff-wise 100 per cent was there. But mechanically it was still kind of off,” said Manoah.
The Homestead, Fla., native finished fourth in the MLB with a 2.24 ERA in 2022, but that number ballooned to 5.87 in 2023 amid struggles with control — his 14.2 per cent walk rate was the third highest in the majors.
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“Well, (Jordan) Romano told you he feels like he has a new elbow, I do have a new elbow. And it feels just like it, man. It feels like my arm is so much lighter. It feels like it’s moving great,” said Manoah. “My arm action and the patterning of my arm has gone right back into the same slot that I was used to throwing at in college and early on, when I got brought up in ‘21 and ‘22, and it just feels really good to be able to have that arm action and that release point.”
Manoah was given a recovery timeline of 12-14 months after the surgery. The length of time it takes to recover from a traditional Tommy John surgery is 12-18 months, however, the addition of an internal brace often speeds up the process.
Friend and former Blue Jay teammate of Manoah’s, Hyun-jin Ryu, faced a similar return timeline with the same injury in 2022-23. He suffered the torn ligament on June 2, 2022, underwent a rigorous 14-month rehab, and returned to be an important part of Toronto’s pitching staff down the stretch in 2023, becoming a deadline acquisition of sorts.
“I mean, I don’t want to overstimulate, ’cause obviously these rehabs are so long for a reason. Like you said, there could be bumps in the road, there could be a bump right now that I don’t see coming,” said Manoah. “But that is something that, every morning when I wake up, my alarm goes off every morning, I tell myself, This is what we’re doing it for. It’s to go win a World Series next year, it’s to go be a deadline acquisition for the Toronto Blue Jays.”
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