Berríos gets back on track after disaster at the WBC
DUNEDIN, FLA. A glimmer of light at the end of a long dark pitching tunnel. For José Berríos, it felt like basking in sunshine.
A year ago, Berríos was the opening-day starter for the Blue Jays. He didn’t survive the first inning. Fast forward to the World Baseball Classic, on the mound for Puerto Rico against Venezuela, and another disastrous outing in the spotlight: six runs, five earned, in just over one inning, with eight of the11batters he faced reaching base in a 38-pitch performance.
In between, there was a dismal 2022 season, with his 5.23 ERA the highest among all MLB starters. And nobody saw it coming.
On Wednesday, the right-hander flashed the Berríos of old, certainly enough to suggest he has his mechanics back on track. In a 2-1 win over the visiting Orioles — admittedly, they didn’t bring their topdrawer lineup — Berríos held Baltimore to one run on 77 pitches (47 strikes) across five-plus innings, striking out five.
“I stick it pretty well, the fourseam and two-seam (fastball),” he said. “So that opened up my changeup away against the lefties. Breaking ball was mostly there. I feel pretty well, pretty strong, pretty healthy, so I’m happy.”
It was a weird starting lineup, featuring seven lefties, including Nos. 1-5. Lefties feasted off Berríos last season, hitting .298/.351/.541. So this outing was an acid test. He passed it, striking out the side in the first frame and displaying fastball command — the core issue for him — despite allowing some hard contact along the way and generating half-a-dozen groundball outs.
“He landed his breaking ball to all those lefties well,” said manager John Schneider, noting there was adjustment in the plan conceived between Berríos and battery mate Alejandro Kirk, because a steady diet of fastballs would have been manna from heaven for that herd of left-handed hitters.
The one blemish was a sinker that stayed middle-middle to Terrin Vavra and got slugged over the fence.
“Really, really positive out for him to build off of,” said Schneider, who had a conversation with Berríos after the fifth inning. “He was happy with all of his pitches, (got) them where he wanted them. I think coming out of his outing in the WBC, to kind of get out there and feel good about it, was really good.”
Moreno gets chance
Of all the many moves made by the Jays in the off-season, possibly the hardest to swallow was sending top prospect Gabriel Moreno to the Diamondbacks in a package for outfielder Daulton Varsho. Now comes word that the 23-year-old Venezuelan will likely be elevated to a starting role with Arizona, after No. 1 catcher Carson Kelly was diagnosed with a fractured arm after being hit by a pitch in a game Monday against the White Sox.
Best against best
Berríos loved the high drams at the WBC on Tuesday, Shohei Otani versus Angels teammate Mike Trout with two out in the top of the ninth and the tournament title on the line. Ohtani struck out Trout. “That was a great moment for baseball,” Berríos said. “One of the best pitchers against one of the best hitters. What more you want? Every kid dreams of being in that position and those guys had an opportunity to show the world.”
Around camp
Bo Bichette cranked his third spring training home run, crushing a pitch 392 feet over the left field wall to open the scoring in the first inning. Varsho connected for his first home run of the spring, a solo in the fifth to put Jays up 2-0 … Prized pitching prospect Ricky Tiedemann, recovering from shoulder soreness, threw another bullpen session.