Jose Berrios will start Opening Day for the Toronto Blue Jays, the team announced on Monday. It is his third career Opening Day nod as a Blue Jay and the fifth of his career.
The decision came down to Berrios and Kevin Gausman, two starting pitchers coming off of strong years who have been members of the Blue Jays organization for several years now.
Berrios went 16-11 with a 3.60 ERA in 2024, making 32 starts for the third consecutive year.
“It’s like when I was a young kid growing up, that first day of school,” Berríos said, per Keegan Matheson of MLB.com. “You always had that feeling of being happy and excited. You want to get to that day as quickly as possible, meet new people and everything. Now, in baseball, having that first day, you’re using everything new — your cleats, your glove, your uniform. It’s a special day. It’s been getting more special for me, too, because my three kids are growing up and they now understand what that means. I feel happy. I feel proud.”
His manager, John Schneider, lauded Berrios’ career-long track record.
“We have a group of guys that you could pick out of a hat,” he said. “But I’m just really excited with the work [Berríos] has put in. The body of work over his career is awesome. The type of teammate that he is and how he’s been able to move forward with the stuff he’s been doing has a pitcher, it’s encouraging.”
Berrios’ game one start will come on March 27 at home against the Baltimore Orioles.
Kevin Gausman will be the Blue Jays’ No. 2 starter
Berrios and Gausman provide a 1-2 punch packed with potential, and the Orioles will see that in the first two games of the year. Gausman will be on the hill for the Blue Jays in their second game, following Berrios on Opening Day.
Gausman also turned in a strong 2024, though his numbers were a step behind Berrios’, going 14-11 with a 3.83 ERA. More importantly for the Blue Jays, he’s turned in some encouraging performances in spring training. And while spring training stats are generally meaningless, Gausman is hitting 95 on his fastball, which has sat a few miles per hour lower over the last few years.
Gausman closed 2024 with a 2.23 ERA over his last nine starts with opponents hitting below .200 against him. This spring, he’s also increased his strikeout rate, though in six total spring innings to date, it’s hard to draw much from that.
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