Amid the frustration of Friday’s 20-1 blowout against the Kansas City Royals, an intriguing development popped up for the Toronto Blue Jays as José Berríos warmed up in the bullpen midway through the night.
As it turns out, Berríos will be an option for the Blue Jays in relief going forward.
Toronto manager John Schneider announced the news to reporters after the game, saying that he already had the conversation with the 31-year-old about the move.
“It’s not comfortable, a guy who’s had so many consecutive starts,” Schneider explained. “I think the position that we’re in now warrants some tough conversations at times. We’re trying to do what we can to win as many games as we can right now.
“Had a long talk with him the other day, and he’s a professional. There’s a reason José Berríos is José Berríos. So, as uncomfortable as it is, I think he gets it.”
Berríos — whose last 234 appearances in the big-leagues have been starts, dating back to 2017 — has struggled to find any sort of consistency over the past few months. Since the beginning of July, the right-hander owns a 5.37 ERA and has allowed 13 home runs in 62 innings.
He last started on Tuesday against the Tampa Bay Rays, allowing four hits and three runs over four innings of work while failing to record any strikeouts.
Schneider acknowledged that Berríos “can still start,” but “with where we are right now, he can be an option out of the ‘pen too.”
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The Blue Jays have experimented with a six-man rotation in recent weeks, factoring in starts made by Eric Lauer and Trey Yesavage, alongside Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Shane Bieber and Max Scherzer. However, the team had already pushed Lauer into a full-time relief role, and after Yesavage’s dominant debut on Monday, it’s clear Toronto is going to give the rookie a chance to start with October approaching.
Berríos has only pitched in relief as a big-leaguer once in his career — a 1.1-inning outing in September 2017 as a member of the Minnesota Twins — and had made exactly 32 starts in seven of the last eight seasons, entering 2025, with the lone exception being the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign.
After Scherzer got just two outs on Friday, the Blue Jays have Bieber and Yesavage scheduled to start the final two games of their series in Kansas City.
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