Blue Jays' Jose Berrios having trouble putting batters away during tough stretch
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Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Jose Berrios has had a tough stretch lately, most times the team bails him out with a win, but it's not a sustainable plan going forward.
In Berrios' last seven starts, he owns a 6.30 ERA with just one quality start. The Jays somehow managed to win five of those contests.
It's always difficult to look under the hood at Berrios' second-level numbers. He's outperformed his expected ERA by at least a half-run in five of the last six seasons.
Entering Sunday's start, he owned a 4.67 xERA and 3.74 actual, a classic Berrios season, in many ways. Lately, though, that classic Berrios hasn't consistently flashed on the mound.
JD Bunkis recently asked Sportsnet 590 The Fan listeners, if Berrios should be part of the playoff rotation.
Should José Berrios be a part of the #BlueJays playoff rotation? @JDBunkis
weighs in on the starter's form heading down the stretch. #LightsUpLetsGo
weighs in on the starter's form heading down the stretch. #LightsUpLetsGo
A six-man rotation may help veteran pitcher Jose Berrios down the stretch
Berrios' recent struggle is putting batters away. In April and May, he turned 23.2 percent of two-strike counts into strikeouts - right around his career average.
In June, that fell to 18.6 percent. It was 15.1 percent in August, entering Sunday, and in the fourth inning, that turned Berrios' latest outing truly sideways; he allowed four hits on two-strike counts.
Sunday's issue, John Schneider said, was Berrios' fleeting command with his primary breaking ball.
But the 31-year-old starter has also worked with pitching coach Pete Walker on small mechanical adjustments in recent weeks, looking to push his sinker velocity back up to career norms.
He's sat under 93 mph in recent weeks after averaging nearly 94 mph with the pitch across the last few seasons.
After Sunday's start, Berrios said he feels healthy, but his fastball averaged 91.8 against the Rangers.
Berrios is the pinnacle of posting. He doesn't miss starts and has never once gone to the injured list.
If there's a starter who could benefit from the added rest a six-man rotation that included Shane Bieber could bring, it's Berrios.
But rotation expansion isn't quite that clean. It would take an arm from Toronto's bullpen and force starters to adjust their routines. Then they'd have to adjust again when the rotation shrinks in October.
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