Toronto Blue Jays fans have reason to be encouraged after Jose Berrios bounced back in his first start since a rough outing with Puerto Rico at the World Baseball Classic.
The right-hander gave up one run on five hits and struck out five in five-plus innings in Grapefruit League action against the Baltimore Orioles on Wednesday.
Berrios didn’t give up a run in the first five innings before Terrin Vavra connected for a homer to centre to open the sixth. After giving up another base hit, Berrios’ afternoon was over.
The Blue Jays’ opening-day starter last year, Berrios struck out five and walked one. He’ll likely have one more spring-training start.
Berrios allowed eight of 11 Venezuela hitters to reach base in his WBC start last week, allowing six runs (five earned) while only pitching into the second. He threw only 38 pitches that day, but then threw another 30 in the bullpen.
Berrios is looking to have a bounce-back season with the Blue Jays after he struggled with consistency in 2022 and posted a 5.23 ERA with a league-leading 199 hits allowed. During the winter, the Blue Jays and Berrios analyzed his issues managing the strike zone and developed a plan to deliver more quality pitches this season.
Berrios made two spring training starts for the Blue Jays before departing for the WBC, both against the Philadelphia Phillies: A two-inning scoreless outing on Feb. 28 and a three-inning appearance on March 5 in which he allowed two runs on five hits. In both spring starts, he had two strikeouts.