Angels’ Alek Manoah will serve as reliever vs. Blue Jays this weekend

By pushing Manoah — who made one Single-A rehab start on May 2, allowing six runs (five earned) on seven hits and two walks with only a pair of strikeouts over 4.1 innings (87 pitches) — to the bullpen, that means the Angels will be down to just four starters, at least for the time being.

Their rotation has been thinned out by injuries of late, with Yusei Kikuchi (shoulder inflammation) joining fellow starters Ryan Johnson and Grayson Rodriguez on the IL last week. It remains unclear who’ll start Monday’s series opener in Cleveland, as Reid Detmers, Jack Kochanowicz and José Soriano will start against Toronto — and in that order — over the next three games.

It’s possible the Angels could end up turning to Manoah for that start if he isn’t needed versus the Blue Jays, with whom he was an All-Star and AL Cy Young finalist in 2022, posting a 3.34 ERA and 4.13 FIP with a 14.4 per cent strikeout-minus-walk rate across 75 career starts from 2021-24.

Manoah, whose ’24 campaign was cut short in late May due to Tommy John surgery, was designated for assignment by Toronto last September and ultimately claimed off waivers by the Atlanta Braves. But he elected free agency during the ensuing off-season before signing a one-year, $1.95 million contract with the Angels over the winter.

Now that Manoah, who sat 90-91 m.p.h. with his fastball in his lone rehab start earlier this month, is healthy again and almost 700 days removed from Tommy John surgery, his return to a major-league mound could arrive in the same city where he was once considered a rising star.