Major League Baseball's leader in starts over the last eight seasons isn't thrilled with the recent change to his role.
After reportedly having a "long talk" with Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider and being made available out of the bullpen as of Friday, José Berríos voiced his displeasure on Saturday.
"Honestly, I don't feel happy to talk about it," said Berrios, per Sportsnet's Arden Zwelling. "But, putting that aside, I put my team first. So, I was able to be out there with my team. That's the way I see it."
The 31-year-old has made exactly 32 starts in each of the previous six seasons, not including the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, and leads MLB with 234 starts and 1,365.2 innings pitched since the beginning of 2018.
Berrios has pitched to a slightly-above league average 4.06 ERA over 30 starts this season but has struggled since the start of July, owning a 5.37 ERA and allowing 13 home runs over 62 innings. The right-hander allowed three earned runs over four innings and didn't record a strikeout in his last start on Sept. 16 against the Tampa Bay Rays.
While he didn't get into the game in the Blue Jays' 20-1 loss to the Royals on Friday, Berrios was warming up in the bullpen during the middle innings.
"Obviously, right now, with where the team's at, we need to do our best. And that's the only care I have," Berríos said. "To go out there in the bullpen and do my best. I know the team needs it. So, hopefully I can do it."
The Blue Jays did put fellow starter Chris Bassitt on the injured list with lower back inflammation on Saturday, but the team plans to keep a four-man rotation for now.
