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Blue Jays 2024 Player Review: Business as usual for José Berríos

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José Berríos — a model of consistency, hard work, durability, and reliability — implemented those same qualities in 2024 for a Blue Jays team that needed it. They don’t call him “La Makina” or “The Machine” for nothing.

Excluding the COVID-shortened 2020 campaign, 2024 featured the sixth consecutive season in which Berríos made exactly 32 starts. On top of that, he posted an ERA of 4.00 or lower (min. 25 starts) for the seventh time in his nine-year career. Finally, Berríos recorded a career-high 16 wins, second in the American League and just two behind AL Cy Young frontrunner Tarik Skubal.

José Berríos in 2024…

Games Started: 32

Record: 16-11

ERA: 3.60

Innings Pitched: 192 1/3

Strikeouts: 153

Walks: 54

FanGraphs WAR: 1.0

Salary: $17,714,286

A shoulder injury during Spring Training for 2023 Cy Young finalist Kevin Gausman opened the door for Berríos to start on Opening Day against the Tampa Bay Rays. He was given an opportunity to rewrite his Opening Day script as a member of the Blue Jays, when Berríos recorded only one out with three hits, four runs, and two walks on 2022’s Opening Day against the Texas Rangers. Allowing a leadoff home run to Yandy Díaz could have led to a repeat of history, but Berríos settled in a started the season on a good note for himself and the team, going 6.0 innings and allowing six hits, two runs, one walk, and six strikeouts to earn the win.

That start was a harbinger of things to come for Berríos, as he posted an outstanding first month of the season and won American League Pitcher of the Month for the first time in his career because of it. Through March/April, Berrios made seven starts, going 4-2 with a 1.44 ERA, a .204 opponents batting average, 31 strikeouts versus 13 walks, and a then-MLB-high 43.2 innings. He didn’t allow more than two runs in a start, and he also pitched three consecutive scoreless games of at least six innings.

Once the calendar flipped to May, Berríos’s performance started to drift away from his outstanding start. His monthly ERAs in May, June, and July were 4.70, 4.85, and 6.08 respectively, and he allowed 4+ runs in a start six times. One of the glaring issues to Berríos’s game was his knack for giving up the long ball and hard contact, something that had lingered with him even during the first month of the season. Berríos stayed either at or near the top of the league in home runs allowed, and the 31 he surrendered ultimately finished second behind Boston’s Kutter Crawford.

The personal accomplishments that Berríos achieved this season certainly juxtapose what some of the underlying metrics were showing, for those interested in those stats. His hard-hit rate (24th percentile), average exit velocity (27th percentile), and barrel rate (47th percentile) were all less-than-impressive, and he also possessed a FIP of 4.72. Even when things were going his way early in the season, the gap between Berríos’s FIP and his ERA were massive. In fact, his FIP stayed north of 4.00 from April 3oth onward, with a near-two month appearance in the 5.00’s. That’s part of the beauty of baseball though; 20 years from now, Berríos won’t be remembered for his Baseball Savant page or his FIP. He overcame those factors and was an effective pitcher and gave his team a chance to win just like he has done for his entire career.

Berríos finished the season strong, posting a 2.75 ERA and an 8-3 record in his final 11 starts, some of them being against teams fighting for playoff spots. He pitched at least seven innings in six of those starts, and he allowed one or zero runs in six of those starts as well. For the season, he pitched to a 16-11 record with a 3.60 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 7.2 K/9, and 2.5 BB/9.

Berríos added a cutter to his pitch mix this season, although he only threw it 3.5% of the time. It was a pitch used primarily against lefties, but opponents still mashed .360 with a .480 slugging percentage against it. With regard to his other pitches, Berríos (shocker) stayed consistent with recent seasons. His fastball velocity hovered around 94 mph, his offspeed pitches were his most effective ones, and the slurve possessed a 31.0% whiff rate.

Berríos’s 2022 season continues to be an anomaly in his year-over-year statistics. He’s been at the forefront of Toronto’s success since his acquisition, and his seven-year, $131 contract is aging just fine. The Blue Jays have been spoiled with his durability, especially when you consider how many playoff teams this season had to overcome limited starting pitching depth. Berríos has earned a lot of success – hopefully, the Blue Jays are in a position to compete for the biggest of accomplishments next season with him being a part of it.

Previously in this series…