PHOENIX — As the Blue Jays’ 2024 season slips further and further away, the impulse to look ahead is tough to ignore.
And, honestly, why would anyone resist it? The here and the now, the minutiae of a 12-1 loss to the Diamondbacks? It can get a little depressing.
Alejandro Kirk and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. committed fielding errors, Chris Bassitt got ejected for arguing about check swings on a night he didn’t even pitch and the Diamondbacks outplayed the Blue Jays in every way imaginable. That’s the short version.
“Today was a (crappy) game all around,” said manager John Schneider. “Every aspect of it between base-running, offence, defence, pitching. It wasn’t a good game. But yeah, there’s only one way to look at it, you know what I mean? We play too many games (to stay down). You’ve got to stay upbeat, try to avoid a sweep tomorrow and end the first half on a good note. But today, it was not our best game.”
Yet even though the 43-52 Blue Jays are nowhere near playoff contention, there are times that the way they win or lose will tell us something significant about this team’s chances for 2025 and beyond. It’s nowhere near as gripping as a playoff race, obviously, but it’s where the Blue Jays are at.
And at Chase Field Saturday, a rough start by Jose Berrios was significant because of his importance to this team’s short- and long-term prospects. In his final start of a first half that started so well, Berrios allowed five earned runs in four innings without recording a strikeout or a swing-and-miss.
It was the first time since 2022 that Berrios completed a start without generating a single strikeout, and the Diamondbacks connected for some loud contact, too. Including this outing, Berrios now has a 5.50 ERA in 13 starts since the beginning of May — not what the Blue Jays would have hoped for from a player under contract through 2028 and not what they would have expected when he posted a 1.44 ERA through the end of April.
“I know I haven’t been pitching well lately,” Berrios said. “I want to do my best, and tonight I wasn’t able to do that so that’s why I felt frustrated with myself. I didn’t pitch well tonight and that’s why we lost.”
Now, to be fair, Berrios has bounced back from worse struggles before. His entire 2022 season was a challenging one, as he posted a 5.23 ERA for the season, but he was consistent with his preparation the entire time and the results turned dramatically the following year. This recent stretch isn’t nearly as concerning, especially since the velocity on his pitches has stayed consistent with an average fastball velocity of 93.9 m.p.h. Saturday.
“I’ve been in these situations before,” Berrios said. “I know I have the ability to bounce back. Now I’ll take the All-Star break to think about what I’ve been doing wrong, make those adjustments and try to get back to the Jose Berrios of the beginning of the season.”
Within a day or two, Berrios expects to be working out physically to prepare for the second half, but he does plan to take a mental breather during the upcoming All-Star break in the hopes of resetting for the final two and a half months.
If anyone can rebound from these struggles, it’s likely Berrios, a two-time all-star who’s still just 30 years old. But considering the number of other questions facing this team, the Blue Jays would probably prefer not to be wondering why his season strikeout rate has dropped six percentage points to 17.8 per cent.
Offensively, the Blue Jays managed very little against starter Yilber Diaz and the Arizona bullpen, with a sacrifice fly from Kirk leading to Toronto’s only run. Bo Bichette was once again on the bench resting a calf issue that may well keep him on the sidelines until next Friday, when the second half resumes.
It’s possible Yimi Garcia will return before then, as the reliever arrived at Chase Field Saturday night and could be activated Sunday. Considering relievers Zach Pop and Nate Pearson combined to allow six runs, including three home runs, the Blue Jays would certainly welcome the help. Only the Rockies’ bullpen has a worse ERA in 2024.
Fundamentally, the Blue Jays don’t have enough quality relievers, a fact that was underscored once again Saturday night. Just one of the many uncomfortable questions now swirling around this baseball team.