Berrios returns to form as Blue Jays face period of uncertainty

TORONTO — It’s been a weekend of uncertainty for the Toronto Blue Jays. 

The Friday trade of Yimi Garcia marked the beginning of the club’s roster churn and that was followed by Nate Pearson and Danny Jansen being shipped out the next day. There’s more to come, as well. 

Yusei Kikuchi will be dealt ahead of the July 30 deadline and so could fellow pending free agents Justin Turner and Kevin Kiermaier, who exited Sunday’s game with a hip injury. 

All told, there’s a level of unsteadiness pervading the Blue Jays’ clubhouse at the moment, but the outing from starter Jose Berrios on Sunday offered a dose of stability. 

Berrios rebounded from a string of rough outings to shut down the Texas Rangers and Daulton Varsho and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. each homered to lift the Blue Jays to a 7-3 win in front of 40,052 at Rogers Centre. With the victory, Toronto picked up just its second series sweep of the season.

“I said yesterday and told the guys again today: In kind of uncertain times, around the league for everyone, I love the way they're going about it,” said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. “Contributions from everyone today.”

The future of many players on the Blue Jays roster is unclear. What the team will look like, say, two years from now, is not known. However, Berrios has a seven-year contract that will keep him here through the 2028 season. He does have an opt out after 2026, but either way, his tenure with the Blue Jays figures to last beyond that of some of his current teammates. 

“It's hard when we’re trying as a team and we don't get the result we wanted,” Berrios said. “Sometimes we feel upset and frustrated, but one thing I had on my mind is I have to keep coming to the ballpark, do my thing, keep working and try to be close with my teammates because it's a long season. Inside [the clubhouse] the only people we have is us so we have to keep pushing each other and try to stay close.”

Getting the right-hander on track for the rest of the 2024 campaign is essential. Berrios enjoyed a strong two months to open the season but was uneven in June and struggled all through July. He’d allowed 17 runs over 19.2 innings across his previous four starts and, in his last outing, tied a career-high by issuing six walks.

On Sunday, though, his command returned and the right-hander looked more like himself. 

Berrios twice pitched out of jams in the early going, escaping first-and-third situations unscathed in both the first and third innings. The right-hander induced key strikeouts in each of those situations, relying on an effective sinker and slurve. 

His only blemish was Nathaniel Lowe’s run-scoring single in the sixth and, in total, Berrios allowed just the one run on six hits over seven frames, striking out five. Perhaps most importantly, he didn’t allow a walk. 

The right-hander said his fellow Blue Jays starters watched his recent bullpen session and made suggestions about his mechanics that he then implemented during Sunday’s outing.

“This outing I was more in line to the plate,” said Berrios. “I was using my back hip more, so that's why I was able to throw better pitches and more strikes.”

The Blue Jays’ offence gave Berrios plenty of margin for error by putting up early runs against a Rangers pitching staff that was at a disadvantage before its first pitch.

Texas starter Jon Gray was removed from the game with right groin discomfort after throwing his warm-up pitches in the first inning and was replaced by Jonathan Hernandez, who surrendered a two-run homer to Varsho and a solo shot to Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the first and third innings, respectively. 

It was the second home run in as many days for Varsho, whose swing has looked “a little bit more free and easy right now,” according to Schneider. “It doesn't seem like he's tied up and I think he’s swinging at pitches that he can handle, which is a big thing for him.”

Addison Barger added a double to right-centre field in the third inning off Rangers reliever Jacob Latz that plated two runs and pushed the score to 6-0. 

Blue Jays reliever Genesis Cabrera surrendered a two-run homer to Josh Smith in the eighth that cut the lead to 7-3, but right-hander Zach Pop locked the game down from there. 

Also of note was that Kiermaier left the game in the bottom of the sixth inning after crashing into the outfield wall trying to make a catch in the top half of the frame. Schneider said the centre-fielder has a left hip contusion and will be re-evaluated on Monday.

The Blue Jays will now head to Baltimore for a four-game series against the Orioles, beginning with Monday’s double-header. Yariel Rodriguez will start Game 1 while right-hander Bowden Francis will be recalled from triple-A to toe the rubber in the second contest. 

Tuesday marks deadline day and so, players inside the Blue Jays locker-room will brace themselves for more goodbyes. 

“That's the toughest part of this game,” said Berrios. “When this day comes and we have to say ‘Goodbye,’ and not ‘Welcome to the team.’”

Added Varsho: “Obviously you're losing a lot of friends that you've created relationships with for a long time, and you're losing a lot of good leaders in the clubhouse that are going to go to teams and do really well. Obviously, it's tough letting those guys leave. But they're going to do well and we hope for the best for them. You always hope that they can come back and be a part of this team again.”