On Sept. 25, the day Jose Berrios was placed on the injured list after making his first relief appearance since 2017, the Toronto Blue Jays right-hander offered a rather blunt assessment of where he was at after being pulled from the starting rotation.
“It was tough, to be honest, it was tough, not because it’s their fault – they made that decision because of the way I was pitching,” he said by his clubhouse locker that day. “I think the guys that are starting right now are pitching better than me. That’s why they made that decision. As an athlete, it’s hard to understand that and agree with that. But we have to think about my team, the future. Right now, I’m not pitching the way I am able to, and I understand that. As an athlete, that’s hard. But as a human, I’m good with that.”
Those words are worth remembering after Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins, replying to a question Monday at the Winter Meetings on why Berrios wasn’t around for parts of the postseason, said the 31-year-old “was not happy” about losing his rotation spot.
Being away from the club was “his decision, I think he was just having a tough time, but you’d have to ask him,” Atkins continued, later adding that the veteran “handled it well. But then when it came down to (post-season) roster selection, he wasn’t on it.”
In diverging from his Nov. 6 explanation that Berrios “just had to be with his family, everything’s fine,” Atkins’ latest comments raised fresh questions about whether the club’s opening day starter last season was uneasy about his status with the club.
Whether there’s anything amiss beyond the natural friction that occurs between team and player under such circumstances is up for debate, as Berrios certainly took responsibility for his performance. But it’s still notable after the Blue Jays signed Dylan Cease and have a pending deal with Cody Ponce that will be finalized once some administrative issues are worked through. Some seeming uncertainty about Shane Bieber’s status is another wrinkle in the mix.
To that end, Atkins attempted to quell trade speculation around Berrios by saying the Blue Jays “certainly intend for him to be here moving forward,” described their relationship as “solid, professional,” and noted that “it’s always tough when someone of his pedigree is not in the rotation – I’m sure he was not excited with that decision.”
Later, asked if the relationship was in need of some repair, Atkins said, “We’re never going to have a situation where we have 40 players, or even 26 players, that are feeling great about the opportunity that they were given, even when you go to the last game of the World Series.”
No debate there, and Berrios’ removal from the rotation after he’d made 30 starts – in which he posted a 4.06 ERA across 164 innings; but a 5.37 mark in his final 13 outings – shouldn’t and wouldn’t be taken well by any driven and competitive athlete.
Berrios finished the season on the injured list with right elbow inflammation – his first time being sidelined during a decade in the majors – and estimated in September that he’d been pitching at “maybe 80, 90″ per cent.”
“This year so far for me has been really tough,” he said. “That’s part of the game, that’s part of life. I have to make adjustments and deal with that.”
The elbow discomfort caused him to be “inconsistent with the release point of my pitches,” he said. “That’s where I’ve been out of my best outcome.”
Berrios resumed throwing on the field Oct. 19 – ahead of ALCS Game 6 – and was part of the celebrations after the 4-3 win that eliminated the Seattle Mariners in Game 7. But he didn’t have the runway to get back for the World Series and wasn’t around the team during the seven-game clash won by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
From a health standpoint, Atkins said Berrios was “very good, he’s recovered well and feels strong, all positive.” Whether the same stands for his outlook with the club is suddenly in question.