DUNEDIN, Fla. — The words came without hesitation, but they carried weight. Standing in front of reporters at Blue Jays spring training on Thursday, José Berríos did not deflect, did not spin, and did not hide behind circumstance. Instead, the 31-year-old right-hander owned it. “Maybe one bad decision,” he said, reflecting on his choice to step away from the club at the end of the 2025 season rather than remain with the team during its run to the World Series. “I apologize. Maybe I made one bad decision to go back to my home.”
Just months removed from October baseball in Toronto — an October he watched from afar — Berríos’ admission lands like a late-breaking headline in a clubhouse already brimming with expectation. The Blue Jays surged all the way to the Fall Classic without him after he was placed on the injured list Sept. 25 with right elbow inflammation, closing his season with a 4.17 ERA and 1.301 WHIP across 166 innings in 31 appearances. It was a turbulent stretch that saw him moved to the bullpen for the first time since 2017, a decision he now says he understood. “I understand why I was out of the rotation,” Berríos acknowledged, a sign that the competitive fire still burns but the perspective has sharpened.
What complicated matters — and what he now regrets — was the decision to return home rather than stay embedded with the team during its October charge. At the time, Berríos insists, the choice was deeply personal, not political. “At that moment, I wasn’t pitching, I wasn’t feeling great, and I wanted to be close to my family,” he explained. With his children in school and unwilling to disrupt their routine for games he knew he could not impact on the field, he opted for rehab and family over clubhouse presence. “If my kid was not in school, I would’ve stayed there,” he said. “They wanted to come to Toronto because they wanted to win with me… but I wouldn’t be able to throw in a game. I don’t wanna waste days of school.”
Still, as the Blue Jays battled through October and electrified the city, the distance lingered. “Seeing our guys doing what they were doing in the month of October, it was impressive,” Berríos said. “At that moment I was shut down, mentally — keep working on my rehab, keep watching my teammates doing their thing. It was impressive.” There was admiration in his voice, but also something else — perhaps the sting of absence.
The apology, subtle but unmistakable, speaks volumes about how badly Berríos wants to reestablish himself — not just as a starter, but as a pillar of a team chasing unfinished business. Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae and Shi Davidi discussed the evolving relationship between Berríos and the organization, noting that accountability like this resonates inside competitive clubhouses. In a rotation culture shaped by veterans such as Kevin Gausman and the steady edge of Chris Bassitt in recent years, showing up matters. Even when you can’t pitch.
Now comes the harder part: earning back certainty in a rotation that suddenly feels crowded. The Blue Jays did not sit idle this offseason. They signed Dylan Cease to a seven-year, $210 million deal and added Cody Ponce on a three-year, $30 million contract, moves that fortified a staff already featuring Gausman, Trey Yesavage, and Shane Bieber — though Bieber’s availability for Opening Day remains uncertain after a slow ramp-up. The message was clear: competition is coming.
For Berríos, that competition is not a threat. It’s fuel. “Obviously, they signed starting pitchers and I am a starting pitcher, too,” he said. “So I never get this guarantee… I’ve been working really hard trying to keep my spot every year. I never came to spring training saying, ‘Oh, I will be one of the five men in the rotation.’ I have to earn that spot and that’s why I’m here.”
Physically, he says he feels stronger. Mentally, clearer. The elbow inflammation that ended his 2025 campaign has subsided, and the reset — however controversial — has given him time to recalibrate. But perception lingers in professional sports, and October memories do not fade easily in a city that tasted the brink of glory. Whether fair or not, his absence became part of the narrative.
That is why this spring feels different. This is not merely about innings or velocity readings. It’s about trust, presence, and proving that the “bad decision” does not define the player. Berríos says he wants to “turn the page,” to focus only on what he can control: preparation, performance, consistency. In a rotation suddenly filled with high-profile arms, nothing will be handed to him.
But perhaps that’s fitting. If redemption is to come, it will come the same way his best outings always have — earned pitch by pitch.
Toronto’s championship window is still open. The expectations are louder. The margin thinner. And José Berríos, once sidelined and watching from afar, now stands in camp determined not to miss another October moment. The apology has been delivered. The page is ready to turn. What happens next may define not only his 2026 season — but his legacy in blue.
