Jose Berríos had his full arsenal working in this start. He mixed pitches with precision, playing his fastball off his slurve and changeup in ways that kept hitters guessing. His sequencing was sharp. He’d go high heat, then drop a changeup below the zone. He’d follow a slurve with a fastball up and in. The overlay of those pitches showed how tough it was for hitters to pick up the ball early. Berríos kept flipping the script, building off swings and takes to set up the next pitch.
One pattern he used kept showing up: if a hitter took a fastball looking, Berríos came right back with it, daring him to hit it. He’d then mix in offspeed stuff like the slurve or a curveball, often following a foul ball with something just a bit more difficult to hit. Against lefties, he climbed the ladder, making fastballs appear hittable but placing them just out of reach. He used movement and pitch location to frustrate opponents, turning every at-bat into a guessing game.
Despite being at 47 pitches through four innings and dominating, Berríos got pulled early due to a preset plan. The Blue Jays bullpen took over, but couldn’t control the inning. A failed double play and some questionable infield positioning led to runs. Berríos, watching from the dugout, looked like a pitcher who knew he had more in the tank.