Berrios after win over Rockies believes he is better than he ever was with Twins

Jays 4-2 on homestand with Yankees to come

The Jays’ emerging ace, righthander Jose Berrios, was asked recently if he was pitching as well, right now, as he ever did in his six years with the Twins — which, it should be noted, included two all-star games and three playoff appearances. The 29-year-old righthander responded, “I think I am better.”

That blunt, uber-positive self-assessment from a player usually shy on self-directed superlatives came even before he had gone to take the mound on Sunday and tossed seven shutout innings vs. the Rockies, allowing just two hits, two walks and two hit batters, striking out seven. The win in the rubber game against Colorado gave the Blue Jays two-out-of-three, extending the club’s home record to 4-2 on the first stand, with three games left vs. the first-place Yankees.

“It’s because I’ve got the experience now,” Berrios explained of the feeling that he’s the best Berrios ever. “It’s something you earn year by year. And, also, you improve. That’s why we work every day so hard. I have the knowledge, the experience. That combination is huge.”

What has also been a huge factor, in a deep dive of the numbers, is that Berrios, against lefthanded hitters and with runners in scoring position for the season has been dominant. Consider vs. lefty swingers, deemed the more difficult side for righthanders, he has held them to two-for-30-.067, with three walks. And with runners as far as second or third base (RISP), opposing hitters are two-for-15-.133, with three walks. One of those hits came when Jose Altuve ran into a batted groundball in Houston. Scoring rule is that the batter is credited with a hit and the runner is out.

“I think his breaking ball is really good against lefties,” manager John Schneider observed. “He’s pitching out of trouble. I think with his stuff and where he is confidence-wise right now, he’s in a really good spot. I think he’s just attacking more.”

Recall, it was two years ago, in 2022, that Berrios stunk, struggling through, inarguably, the worst season of his career, posting a 5.23 ERA, with 199 hits and 29 homers in 172 innings. He was emerging in his new city from a solid half-season debut with the Jays and had been rewarded with a new, seven-year contract. The ‘22 struggles took everyone by surprise. So, how did he turn it around?

Nicknamed La Makina, for his work ethic, he believed in himself. Now he has a younger teammate, Alek Manoah, who is in the midst of encountering a similar career challenge to what he endured, albeit, Manoah’s success came in just one season, a year in which he competed for an AL Cy in ‘22. How can Berrios, draw upon his own adversity and lend advice to his younger teammate, who lockers just two spaces away.

“We all need a lot, but to me the most important thing is to be open to suggestion,” Berrios said. “You have to have discipline and the proper disposition to accept and to be able to say, ‘I want to do it. I want to put my 100-percent effort every single day.’

Manoah, if he hasn’t hit rock-bottom, can see it from there. He was banished to the lowest minors twice last year and, nevertheless, came to training camp as a favourite to regain the fifth starter’s role. But after an early shoulder issue, interrupting whatever progress he showed on the road back, he has been bad in one start at Class-A and then struggled with command, Saturday at Triple-A. He’s in town with the big team right now, but there seems no discernible light at the end of his tunnel.  

“There’s discipline and, also, belief,” Berrios said in his role as possible mentor. “It’s hard when things are going bad. Your mind gets confused, but you need to be strong. We learn. We have to see what we did wrong. We had to make adjustments from that year and those adjustments are going to help you to do better the next time, the next year. So, that’s what I did. I learned from 2022 what I was doing wrong, then tried to fix it and make adjustments for the next one.

“In the big leagues, everything is good. Every outing we have is a really, really tough one. We have to go out there and do our best because we are at the best level in the world in baseball. I always want to see, learn, try to help them, but it’s hard. Every situation, every player is different. But we always want them to know we are there and want to help them.”

Right now, the Blue Jays’ fifth starter’s role, for the long term, is a coin flip but others have the inside track on Manoah. It began the season as Bowden Francis, then on Saturday was offered to Yariel Rodriguez and down the road may be Ricky Tiedemann. But there is still hope for Manoah, if he can use Berrios as his guide.

The Jays will try and post three wins in a row for the first time this year on Monday against the Yankees, with Chris Bassitt on the hill.