The Toronto Blue Jays offer updates on both Alek Manoah and Joey Votto

The Toronto Blue Jays played Game 1 of a big series with the New York Yankees on Monday night, and they also offered some injury updates on Joey Votto and Alec Manoa.

SportsNet's Ben Nicholson-Smith on social media:

More Blue Jays posts:
• Joey Votto is doing great, but there's no immediate game plan for a rebound
• Alec Manoa will begin another triple rehab start on Friday
• Yariel Rodriguez got the start Friday against the Padres

First, as for Votto, the former MVP signed a minor league contract with the Toronto Blue Jays late in spring training, then injured his ankle shortly after returning to play with the Jays.

Due to the nature of his contract, there's no guarantee he'll see the field in Toronto, but he'll have every opportunity to go a full season with the Jays to see if he can contribute for them in 2024.

If the 40-year-old Votto can make the Jays' roster this season, it will be one of the best stories in baseball all year. The Toronto native spent 17 years with the Cincinnati Reds, but is trying to turn his hometown team around in the beautiful irony of ending his career where it began.

Voice is a career .294 hitter with a .409 on-base percentage. He is the active leader in games played (2,056), hits (2,135), walks (1,365), and intentional walks. He led the major leagues in on-base percentage three times and is a six-time All-Star in addition to the MVP.

As for Manoa, he's trying to bounce back from a disastrous 2023 season and a shoulder injury that slowed him down in spring training. He made two minor league rehab starts this year, both of which saw poor results. He gave up four runs on eight hits at Triple-A over the weekend. That was an improvement over the six runs he allowed in 1.2 innings in his first Single-A game.

He ranked third in the American Cy Young League in 2022.

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