Toronto Blue Jays announce postseason pitching plans for Jose Berrios
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The Toronto Blue Jays have announced how they plan on deploying Jose Berrios for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs.
Berrios has started all but one of his 274 career big league games, but the veteran starter now looks to be moving to the bullpen for the remainder of the Blue Jays' 2025 campaign.
Following the Jays' ugly 20-1 loss to the Royals on Friday, manager John Schneider told Sportsnet's Shi Davidi and other reporters about the somewhat fluid situation today, saying that Berrios «can still start for us,» but «he's kind of an option if we need him on days like today and will be going forward.»
José Berrios will be in the bullpen moving forward. He can still start, but the conversation happened. Schneider:
«He's a professional. There's a reason José Berrios is José Berrios. As uncomfortable as it is, I think he gets it. That's kind of where we are right now.»
«He's a professional. There's a reason José Berrios is José Berrios. As uncomfortable as it is, I think he gets it. That's kind of where we are right now.»
At the very least, Berrios will likely act as a reliever for the remainder of this weekend's series in Kansas City.
The Blue Jays have an off-day Monday before heading into their final homestand, which consists of three games with the Red Sox and a three-game set with the Rays.
Toronto holds a three-game lead on the Yankees and a five-game lead on the Red Sox in the AL East title race, with the Jays holding tiebreakers over both teams.
A move to the pen might not necessarily solve this problem, and it could add to the difficulties for a Toronto bullpen that has already struggled
Berrios has a decent 4.06 ERA over 164 innings this season.
However, his production is split between a 3.26 ERA in his first 17 starts (102 innings), and a much less effective 5.37 ERA in his most recent 13 starts (62 innings).
Over his last seven outings in particular, Berrios has only once logged at least six innings.
Dividi noted that last weekend, Berrios said he was feeling both mentally and physically run down as he neared the end of his tenth MLB season.
«Maybe because I'm 31 years old now and I'm starting to feel some different things. But thank God I've been able to take the ball and go out there and pitch, nothing like, 'Oh, I can't pitch today,' or I have to stay out for two weeks or a month,» Berrios said.
Though both Berrios' physical state and his so-so results might warrant a bullpen role in October, Schneider didn't approach the decision lightly, given the right-hander's long history as a rotation staple.
"He can be an option out of the pen."
John Schneider speaks on the decision to move Jose Berrios to the bullpen going forward.
John Schneider speaks on the decision to move Jose Berrios to the bullpen going forward.
That said, Schneider said Berrios was open to the change.
«I think the position that we're in nowkind of warrants some tough conversations at times and I feel like we just are trying to do what we can to win as many games as we can,» Schneider said. «He's a professional. There's a reason Jose Berrios is Jose Berrios. As uncomfortable as it is, I think he gets it.»
The Blue Jays look to rebound on Saturday night when Shane Bieber takes the ball against the Royals. First pitch is at 7:10 PM ET.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 20 | 311 ANSWERS Toronto Blue Jays announce postseason pitching plans for Jose Berrios Do you think the Toronto Blue Jays should move Jose Berrios to the bullpen? | ||
| Yes | 195 | 62.7 % |
| No | 90 | 28.9 % |
| Too early to tell | 26 | 8.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
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