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Toronto Blue Jays' Jose Berrios Set to Make Great History on Opening Day

Jose Berrios will make his fifth career Opening Day start between the Minnesota Twins and Blue Jays. With that, he will become the first player from Puerto Rico to make at least five Opening Day starts.

Brady Farkas

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jose Berrios (17) throws a pitch against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning during spring training at TD Ballpark on March 16.
Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jose Berrios (17) throws a pitch against the Atlanta Braves in the first inning during spring training at TD Ballpark on March 16. / Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
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Earlier this week, the Toronto Blue Jays named right-hander Jose Berrios as the Opening Day starter for the March 27 contest against the Baltimore Orioles.

With that announcement, Berrios will make some special history among Puerto Rican players, according to Sarah Langs of MLB.com:

Berríos will become the first pitcher from Puerto Rico to start at least five season openers. No other hurler from Puerto Rico has started more than three times on Opening Day.

Berrios will have started three Opening Days for the Blue Jays and two for the Minnesota Twins.

The 30-year-old is a nine-year veteran of the Twins and Blue Jays who is a two-time All-Star. Having gone 99-77 for his career, Berrios has seven different seasons of double-digit victories. He is coming off a year in which he went 16-11 with a 3.60 ERA. He struck out 153 batters in 192.1 innings.

If the Jays are going to rebound from a last-place finish in 2024, they'll need Berrios to continue to be effective in 2025. He'll pair with Kevin Gausman, Chris Bassitt, Bowden Francis and Max Scherzer in the starting rotation.

Toronto went 74-88 last season, but with the addition of Scherzer, as well as Anthony Santander, Jeff Hoffman, Yimi Garcia and Andres Gimenez, they certainly feel better about their chances this year.

Berrios will be opposed on Opening Day by Zach Eflin of the Orioles. He's getting the start due to an injury to Grayson Rodriguez, and because former Cy Young winner Corbin Burnes signed with the Diamondbacks during free agency.

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Brady Farkas
BRADY FARKAS

Brady Farkas is a baseball writer for Fastball on Sports Illustrated/FanNation and the host of 'The Payoff Pitch' podcast which can be found on Apple Podcasts and Spotify. Videos on baseball also posted to YouTube. Brady has spent nearly a decade in sports talk radio and is a graduate of Oswego State University. You can follow him on Twitter @WDEVRadioBrady. 

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