Blue Jays’ Alek Manoah to undergo UCL surgery, will miss remainder of season

Alek Manoah is set to undergo UCL surgery on June 17, said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. The exact surgery is TBD — could be Tommy John, could be a repair with the internal brace. Either way, his season is over.

The diagnosis was made during a visit to Dr. Keith Meister’s office in Texas on Thursday, who took another look at Manoah after an MRI last week revealed a sprain of the ulnar collateral ligament in his elbow. 

At the time, the Blue Jays said they didn’t have enough information on the degree of damage, but began quietly considering ways to fill out the roughly 20 outings his spot in the rotation has remaining this year.

Trevor Richards started in his place Tuesday with Bowden Francis handling bulk duties. The Blue Jays are TBD for the spot’s next turn Sunday against the Athletics.

Manoah, 26, left his start at the Chicago White Sox after his 24^th pitch because of a “pinchy” sensation in his right elbow. He’d experienced some discomfort following his previous outing against the Detroit Tigers, felt good enough to pitch between outings and told himself to really let it rip on the fateful 91.4-m.p.h., glove-side sinker.

“It sucks,” he said afterwards. “But I have my faith in God and I dealt with a lot of (expletive) this past year to get back to this point. And the game’s tough, you know?”

An MRI the next day revealed the sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament and a follow-up with Meister was scheduled.