The Blue Jays opened the season at home last night in front of a sold-out crowd of 40,069. The home opener matchup repeated once again as the Blue Jays faced off against the Seattle Mariners for the second year in a row.
The pitching matchup was definitely one to watch during this welcome-back party in Toronto. Blue Jays right-hander Jose Berrios faced Mariners ace right-hander Luis Castillo, who also started the Blue Jays’ home opener in 2023.
Toronto’s offence was looking for some relief on the bump, hoping for an arm to take advantage of. Surprisingly, Castillo was that guy. He was struggling and already 0-2 going into this game. At the end of the night, he finished with a worrisome 0-3 record and a non-conventional line of five innings pitched, four runs, one walk, six strikeouts, and minimal run support. Through 15 2/3 innings, Castillo holds a 6.89 ERA.
On the Toronto side, the pitching usage was fluent and the performances were satisfying. Jose Berrios was slotted as the Opening Day starter after an intriguing 2023 season. Berrios had entered last night with a one in the win column already.
Blue Jays with 6+ scoreless innings in a home opener
Jimmy Key 1989 vs Royals
Dave Stieb 1990 vs Rangers
Pat Hentgen 1996 vs Angels
Marcus Stroman 2019 vs Tigers
Jose Berrios 2024 vs Mariners#TOTHECORE pic.twitter.com/s0uQhhUlFk— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) April 9, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Needless to say, his approach was impeccable. With the naked eye, his confidence was bold and his pitch-ability was very noticeable. Berrios executed his pitch-arsenal which kept the Seattle bats off-balance and anxious in the box. His off-speed and breaking pitches were well placed, locating and executing in the right counts. The slurve has been his out-pitch through two starts, which holds a 37.5% strikeout percentage and a 24.3% put-away percentage; these percentages lead all of the pitch options.
Berrios commanded the fastball well and strategically placed his slurve on the inner parts of the plate, tying up lefty bats and working low and away from most righties. He recorded nine grounders, five flyouts, and 72 strikes of the 101 pitches thrown. His line finished at 6 2/3 innings pitched with four hits, zero earned runs, one walk, and six strikeouts.
Speaking of that edge I’ve been seeing a bit more of in José Berríos these past few months…
Berríos:
“I was trying to be respectful, but when I go out there, I have to be a bad dog. That’s what I had on my mind.” #BlueJays— Keegan Matheson (@KeeganMatheson) April 9, 2024
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js
Yimi Garcia came in relief and struck out two in 1 1/3 innings of work, and the replacement closer, veteran Chad Green, closed it out with two strikeouts despite a home run in the inning. It was a well-pitched game for the Blue Jays, and it had some healthy metrics to go along with it.
ARTICLE PRESENTED BY BETANO
