{"id":333728,"date":"2025-12-09T03:24:07","date_gmt":"2025-12-09T03:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/333728\/"},"modified":"2025-12-09T03:24:07","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T03:24:07","slug":"blue-jays-berrios-relationship-in-spotlight-after-latest-comments","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/333728\/","title":{"rendered":"Blue Jays, Berrios relationship in spotlight after latest comments"},"content":{"rendered":"

ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 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<\/a> right-hander offered a rather blunt assessment of where he was at after being pulled from the starting rotation.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was tough, to be honest, it was tough, not because it’s their fault \u2013 they made that decision because of the way I was pitching,\u201d he said by his clubhouse locker that day. \u201cI 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those words are worth remembering after Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins, replying to a question Monday at the Winter Meetings on why Berrios wasn\u2019t around for parts of the post-season, said the 31-year-old \u201cwas not happy\u201d about losing his rotation spot.<\/p>\n

Being away from the club was \u201chis decision, I think he was just having a tough time, but you’d have to ask him,\u201d Atkins continued, later adding that the veteran \u201chandled it well. But then when it came down to (post-season) roster selection, he wasn’t on it.\u201d<\/p>\n

In diverging from his Nov. 6 explanation that Berrios \u201cjust had to be with his family, everything’s fine,\u201d Atkins\u2019 latest comments raised fresh questions about whether the club\u2019s opening day starter last season was uneasy about his status with the club.<\/p>\n

Whether there\u2019s 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\u2019s 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\u2019s status<\/a> is another wrinkle in the mix.\u00a0<\/p>\n

To that end, Atkins attempted to quell trade speculation around Berrios by saying the Blue Jays \u201ccertainly intend for him to be here moving forward,\u201d described their relationship as \u201csolid, professional,\u201d and noted that \u201cit\u2019s always tough when someone of his pedigree is not in the rotation \u2013 I’m sure he was not excited with that decision.\u201d<\/p>\n

Later, asked if the relationship was in need of some repair, Atkins said \u201cwe\u2019re 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

No debate there and Berrios\u2019 removal from the rotation after he\u2019d made 30 starts \u2013 in which he posted a 4.06 ERA across 164 innings; but a 5.37 mark in his final 13 outings \u2013 shouldn\u2019t and wouldn\u2019t be taken well by any driven and competitive athlete.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Berrios finished the season on the injured list with right elbow inflammation \u2013 his first time being sidelined during a decade in the majors \u2013 and estimated in September that he\u2019d been pitching at \u201cmaybe 80, 90\u201d per cent.”<\/p>\n

\u201cThis 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The elbow discomfort caused him to be \u201cinconsistent with the release point of my pitches,\u201d he said. \u201cThat’s where I’ve been out of my best outcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

Berrios resumed throwing on the field Oct. 19 \u2013 ahead of ALCS Game 6 \u2013 and was part of the celebrations after the 4-3 win that eliminated the Seattle Mariners in Game 7. But he didn\u2019t have the runway to get back for the World Series and wasn\u2019t around the team during the seven-game clash won by the Los Angeles Dodgers.\u00a0<\/p>\n

From a health standpoint, Atkins said Berrios was \u201cvery good, he’s recovered well and feels strong, all positive.\u201d Whether the same stands for his outlook with the club is suddenly in question.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"ORLANDO, Fla. \u2013 On Sept. 25, the day Jose Berrios was placed on the injured list after making…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":77613,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-333728","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-mlb","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333728","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=333728"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/333728\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/77613"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=333728"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=333728"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=333728"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}