José Berríos

March 17, 2025

Receives Opening Day nod

Manager John Schneider announced Monday that Berrios will start the Blue Jays' March 27 season opener versus the Orioles in Toronto, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.

Analysis

Though Max Scherzer (thumb) and Kevin Gausman also represented worthy candidates for the Opening Day nod, both have been eased along more slowly in spring training, which may have factored into Schneider's decision to go with Berrios in the first game of the season. Berrios has already made four Grapefruit League starts and struck out seven over six scoreless innings in his most recent outing Sunday versus Atlanta, so he should be able to give the Blue Jays plenty of length right away to begin the season. Berrios is coming off a 2024 campaign in which he submitted a 3.60 ERA and 1.15 WHIP -- his best marks since 2021 -- but his strikeout rate dropped to 19.5 percent, his lowest of any season in which he made at least 15 starts.