DUNEDIN, Fla. – About an hour and a half after first pitch Saturday afternoon, Jose Berrios took the mound at TD Ballpark to warm up for his sixth inning of work. He wanted to throw about 20 more pitches in his final start of the Grapefruit League schedule and with Bryce Harper on deck to face him for the third time of the day, a real test awaited. Then the rain started to fall.
Fans ran for cover and soon after, players followed. It wasn’t long before the game against the Phillies was officially declared over, giving the Blue Jays consecutive ties as the rain continued to pour in Dunedin. Thankfully for Berrios and the Blue Jays, the storm held off long enough for him to pitch five innings, setting him up for a regular workload when he takes the mound for the Blue Jays on opening day.
“It was his best start of spring training,” manager Charlie Montoyo said. “His ball had so much action. His first inning was so-so, but after that he was Berrios – the Berrios that we know.”
Berrios allowed two runs in the game while striking out three and walking one. More importantly, he was able to accomplish his goal of throwing off-speed pitches for strikes in any count.
“I feel great about the outing,” Berrios said. “I’m ready to go now.”
“We got five innings of good work,” added catcher Danny Jansen. “That was the main focus.”
After throwing 66 pitches in the game, Berrios went to a covered batting cage and threw 20 extra pitches for a total of 86. That sets him up to throw close to 100 when the Blue Jays open their season on Friday.
Defensively, the right-hander had some support. In the first inning, J.T. Realmuto hit a hard ground ball down the third base line. But Matt Chapman turned to his left, backhanded the ball and threw to second, where he forced out Kyle Schwarber. It’s the kind of play Montoyo hopes to see often from his Gold Glove third baseman.
“That’s fun to watch,” Montoyo said. “I was an infielder, so I know how tough those plays are and how easy he makes them look … he’s going to make us so much better. He already has.”
“For some reason our pitching gets a lot of ground balls to third,” Montoyo continued. “So, go ahead (and hit it there).”
But while Berrios had a productive day, the Blue Jays are facing a setback elsewhere on the pitching staff as Nate Pearson continues feeling ill. He again tested negative for COVID-19, but the Blue Jays sent him home to rest, which means he’s not getting the game reps needed to refine his command and prepare for the regular season. At this point, it’s likely the Blue Jays break camp without him.
“Probably, yeah,” Montoyo said. “I’m not going to say no, but he’s running out of time.”
If Pearson’s unavailable for opening day, the Blue Jays could backdate an injured list stint, allowing him to return in less than 10 days. In the meantime, opportunity opens up in the Blue Jays’ bullpen.
“There’s a lot of guys fighting for the last couple of spots,” Montoyo said. “You know who they are.”
There are seemingly seven locks for the Blue Jays’ bullpen in Jordan Romano, Yimi Garcia, Tim Mayza, Adam Cimber, Trevor Richards, David Phelps and Ross Stripling, who threw 70 pitches over 5.1 innings of work on a backfield Saturday. Beyond that core group, the likes of Pearson, Ryan Borucki and Julian Merryweather are competing for roles along with Tayler Saucedo, Andrew Vasquez and Trent Thornton.
But after Borucki felt soreness in his leg while pitching in Bradenton Thursday, the club sent him for an MRI. Depending on how the next few days go for him and Pearson, there could be room for an extra reliever or two to make the team.
For Romano, at least, the day was more productive. The right-hander sprained his ankle while walking his dog earlier in the week, but he threw a pain-free bullpen Friday and participated in fielding drills with fellow Blue Jays pitchers at the team’s training complex Saturday morning
“Everything was completely normal,” Romano said. “Pitch speed, slider, location. It was pretty encouraging. The first day compared to a day or two later, I made a lot of progress. It’s in the past now.”
Next up for Romano is an appearance in a minor-league game Sunday followed by one more spring appearance, tentatively slated for Tuesday. Barring the unexpected, he’ll be ready to close for the Blue Jays on opening day.
All told, the pieces are starting to fit into the place for the Blue Jays, even if it’s not exactly how they would have drawn it up. And as a short but busy camp starts coming to an end, many Blue Jays players are eagerly awaiting the chance to play games that count again.
“I’m excited,” Berrios said. “I’m ready, excited and ready to (put on) a show for the fans.”
