Blue Jays Notebook: Manoah's timeline still unclear; Bench steps up

OAKLAND, Calif. – Still lacking a clear timeline for Alek Manoah to return to the mound, the Toronto Blue Jays placed their opening day starter on the temporarily inactive list at triple-A Buffalo, a move made to free up a roster spot for the Bisons.

The transaction took place Monday and utilizes a regularly-used mechanism that allows players to be “away from a team for a few days because of a personal matter, travel to an All-Star Game, etc.,”  when they are “not placed on the (IL),” according to an FAQ sheet on the Minor League Baseball website.

Manoah, optioned to the minors for the second time this season Aug. 11, remains in a throwing progression and has yet to begin throwing side sessions off a mound, underlining how far he is from appearing in a game.

“Understanding where he is in terms of throwing and I think them needing a roster spot, it's being mindful of his build up and making sure that they have the best team that they need to field every night,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said in explaining the move.

With the open roster spot, the Bisons activated right-hander Andrew Bash from the temporarily inactive list Tuesday, while also returning Steve Berman from the injured list and transferring fellow catcher Jose Ferrer to the development list.

Only three weeks remain in Buffalo’s season, so the runway for Manoah to resume pitching is running short. Despite that, there’s “nothing new there,” in terms of a timeline, said Schneider. “Still trying to target a date where he does get back off the mound in a game. We just haven't gotten there yet.”

Manoah hasn’t appeared in a game since Aug. 10, when he allowed four runs on four hits and three walks in four innings at Cleveland and was optioned to Buffalo the next day.

In the nearly month since, the 25-year-old right-hander has undergone a slate of tests “to make sure he was in the best possible physical place” before joining Buffalo, GM Ross Atkins said Aug. 25. No major issues were found and the club says he’s been building up since.

Manoah posted a 2.24 ERA in 196.2 innings across 31 starts last season and finished third in AL Cy Young voting, but struggled to a 6.36 ERA in 58 innings through his first 13 outings this year, prompting to the Blue Jays to send him to the Florida Complex League on June 6.

BIG-TIME BENCH

Cavan Biggio delivered a pair of RBI singles in Monday’s 6-5, 10-inning win over the Oakland Athletics and of note is that each came against a left-handed reliever. Though the sample is small, he’s now batting .257 (9-for-35) against southpaws this year, 45 points higher than his average against righties.

For his career, he’s hit .224/.336/.403 in 1,148 plate appearances versus righties and .234/.355/.347 in 389 PAs against lefties.

“If you look at my career kind of as a whole, before 2021, I've kind of hit lefties better than I've hit righties and it's kind of just getting back to that,” Biggio said of his success Monday. “It comes down to the adjustments I've made in my swing, keeping my bat path in through the zone, and I can go up against lefties or really anybody and have confidence in what I have.”

Blue Jays manager John Schneider has leaned on Biggio and Santiago Espinal more since the injuries to Bo Bichette and Matt Chapman, and they’ve answered the call. Both started the year slowly – Biggio produced a .428 OPS in the opening month, Espinal .511 – but both have picked it up since.

Espinal is 8-for-13 over his past six appearances, including a go-ahead RBI double in the 10th Monday, which he attributes to “trying to stay aggressive with the fastball.”

“I've been working with (assistant hitting coach) Hunter Mense and (hitting coach) Guillermo Martinez and everything has been good,” he added. “My swing path has been really good. And I'm just trying to be aggressive.”

Schneider said the way the duo has worked has earned them trust in big spots and each has come up with important moments in recent weeks.

“Personally, it feels good to help the team win in a variety of different ways, whether it's positionally, baserunning or getting a couple of knocks,” said Biggio. “But the biggest reward you can get is winning and that's the most important thing. The guys on the team right now, they notice that, and it's just find ways to win games, no matter who's in the game, it's a next-guy-in mentality, and when we get those pieces back, hopefully we can keep rolling.”

ROMANO EXTENDED

Jordan Romano pitched more than an inning for the fifth time this season in closing out Monday’s win against the A’s, but it was his first time doing it after pitching the day before.

An efficient 12-pitch save in Sunday’s 7-5 win at Colorado left him with enough in the tank to get five outs in Oakland, something he did on 23 pitches that included getting two outs in the ninth with a runner on and three more in the 10th, when he surrendered a Lawrence Butler two-run shot before locking things down.

The Blue Jays needed extra from Romano with Jordan Hicks, Tim Mayza, Trevor Richards and Chad Green all down for the day.

“It was a call made in the dugout between innings, but I mean, when I got those two outs, I assumed I was going back out there,” Romano said of going back out for a second inning of work. “We've got 24 games left, you've got to give what you've got every day. I was good to go for these 1.2.”

GREEN GETS GOING

Chad Green, quite obviously, was much happier with his second outing back from Tommy John surgery than his first, cruising through a high-leverage eighth inning Sunday on seven pitches after giving up four runs in two-thirds of an inning Friday.

The right-handed reliever was much more in rhythm Sunday and feels what he needs more than anything right now is reps to lock in his best on the mound.

“You just go so long, 15 months of not pitching in the stadium atmosphere, the mound, the visuals, it was getting all that back and feeling more comfortable,” he explained. “(Sunday) really went well but I think it's going to take five or six outings, though, like before I fully get back into it.”

Still, Green feels miles ahead of where he was before his elbow blew out last summer, when he logged 15 innings in 14 games with the Yankees, posting a 3.00 ERA while striking out 16.

“Looking back right before I got hurt, I was just trying to survive a little bit just because I knew I didn't feel great. Now it's like I actually get to enjoy it again,” he said. “That's the biggest thing, enjoying being healthy, enjoying being able to compete and make pitches, rather than trying to get through the outing. If I can have the right mentality every time, the results normally take care of themselves.”