Toronto Blue Jays starter Alek Manoah will begin a rehab assignment Monday in the Florida Complex League, manager John Schneider told reporters via The Athletic's Mitch Bannon.

This represents a major step in his road to recovery from an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery last year. 

Manoah threw two simulated innings Tuesday in Florida and Schneider said Manoah could begin a rehab assignment if things went well. Schneider also said previously Manoah will need to go through a full Spring Training-style ramp-up in order to potentially join the Blue Jays late in the season.

The 27-year-old was 1-2 with a 3.70 ERA in five starts in 2024 before going down. His last start came on May 29 in a game against the Chicago White Sox.

Through four seasons with the Blue Jays, the Homestead, Fla., native owns a 3.34 ERA with 412 strikeouts in 420.0 innings pitched. He was an All-Star in 2022 and also finished third in American League Cy Young voting that season but struggled mightily in 2023 before having his attempt at a bounce-back season in 2024 cut short.

Manoah was selected by Toronto in the 2019 MLB Draft out of the University of West Virginia and made his debut with the team in May of 2021.