After homering and walking twice to open his rehab assignment on Thursday, Toronto Blue Jays slugger Anthony Santander was right back in the mix at triple-A Buffalo on Friday.
Once again batting second and serving as Buffalo’s designated hitter, Santander’s follow-up performance wasn’t quite as explosive as his return to the field, but he did get four more plate appearances under his belt.
Santander went 0-for-2 with two walks and two strikeouts against the Rochester Red Wings as he continued to test out his left-handed swing.
The 30-year-old struck out on sliders in the top of the first and sixth innings. His second punchout came after a seven-pitch battle, in which he fouled off three pitches before being set down.
Santander walked in the fourth and seventh.
Toronto’s major off-season addition has been out of the MLB lineup with a shoulder injury since May 29. His rehab assignment was supposed to start earlier this week, but was delayed due to back tightness.
Alek Manoah, meanwhile, drew the start for the Bisons one day after the Blue Jays ended his rehab stint and assigned him to triple-A.
The six-foot-six right-hander delivered one of his strongest starts of the season, striking out eight over 5.1 innings of work, allowing four hits, three runs and one walk.
Manoah was rolling right out of the gate Friday, as after allowing a leadoff single to open the contest, he retired 15 of the next 16 hitters — the only blemish during that stretch being a solo shot in the third inning.
An MLB all-star in 2022, Manoah tossed 80 pitches, 55 of them for strikes, mixing in a changeup, four-seam fastball, slider and sinker on the night. Manoah’s slider delivered encouraging results, getting Red Wings hitters to swing and miss at the offering five of the nine times they swung at it.
The 27-year-old left the game with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth inning after allowing a pair of singles and a walk. He was replaced by reliever Hayden Juenger, who induced a ground ball, but a throwing error allowed two runs to score on the play.
Now that Manoah is officially done with his rehab assignment, he will continue working to progress back to major-league form after undergoing UCL reconstruction surgery last season.
His velocity has still been coming back throughout his rehab outings across Toronto’s minor-league affiliates. On Friday, the hardest pitch he threw came out of his hand at 91.8 m.p.h. During his five games with the Blue Jays in 2024, his fastball averaged 93.2.
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