We pretty much know everything about Jose Berrios that we need.
Jose Berrios came to the Jays in a trade with the Twins at the deadline in 2021. Austin Martin and Simeon Woods Richardson went to Minnesota. Woods had a pretty good 2023 season, with a 2.9 bWAR in 28 starts. Martin played 98 games, with a -1.0 bWAR.
The Jays signed Berrios to a seven-year, $131 million contract after the 2021 season. There is an opt-out after the 2026 season (I can’t imagine he would opt out), and there are $5 million incentive bonuses in both 2027 and 2028.
Berrios turns 31 in May.
In his three and a bit seasons with the Jays, he’s 44-34 with a 4.07 ERA in 108 seasons. He’s made 32 starts a season in his three seasons full seasons with the Jays and 32 starts in each of the previous two seasons. He’s been incredibly reliable.
His 2022 season wasn’t good, with a 5.23 ERA and a -0.6 bWAR, but the last two were good, 3.63 ERA and a 4.6 bWAR.
Jose goes out there every fifth day and does the job.
We do have to admire that Pete Walker, the training staff, and the team keeping Berrios, Gausman, and Bassitt going without any missed time due to injury or soreness. I don’t know how long it can last. They are all in their 30s now, but we should enjoy it.
Anyway, Berrios’ strikeout rate dropped last year. In 2024, it was 19.5%, down from 23.5% in 2023.
Like in 2023, he threw mostly sinkers, slurves, four seamers and changeups last year but added the occasional cutter.
Steamer thinks Berrios will make 32 starts again this year, throwing 191 innings (1.1 innings less than last year) and having a 3.60 ERA.
Berrios was the focus of a ‘long read’ on the Sportsnet website. It said he is becoming a role model to others from Puerto Rico. There haven’t been many successful pitchers from there over the years.
According to Baseball Reference, there have been 21 Puerto Rican-born position players who have generated at least 20 wins above replacement over their careers. On the pitching side, just one has crossed that threshold — Vazquez.
“It’s never been anything systematic,” says Eddie Romero, Red Sox executive VP and assistant general manager. “I think it just became much more attractive for kids to say, ‘Hey, you know what, I want to emulate this person at this position.’ And you know, most of those guys were position players.”