Time is running out for José Berríos to solidify his standing in October.

While the Toronto Blue Jays haven’t clinched anything yet — their magic number to secure a playoff berth is down to three games entering Wednesday’s slate — they can comfortably start peaking ahead beyond these final few weeks, beginning to dream about embarking on what’ll hopefully lead to a deep post-season run. As part of that, the team can start mocking up potential roster layouts.

Nothing is more important right now than Bo Bichette’s uncertain status, which, of course, would alter the entire conversation surrounding the position-player group for next month’s quest to the World Series. And, to a lesser extent, Anthony Santander’s eventual return also serves as a major X-factor.

But what about on the pitching side, particularly the starting rotation?

Health-dependent *knocks on wood*, the Blue Jays should be set with co-aces Kevin Gausman and Shane Bieber in Games 1 and 2, respectively. Assuming this club bypasses the wild-card round, advancing straight to a best-of-five ALDS, they’ll need one, perhaps two other starters between Max Scherzer, Chris Bassitt and Berríos. Oh, and you can guarantee that Trey Yesavage is now a part of this debate, too.

That’s four starters competing for a pair of rotation spots. If Scherzer is healthy, then you can bet he’ll fill one of those jobs, leaving the other up for grabs.

These final 11 games are essentially an audition for the likes of Bassitt, Berríos and Yesavage. It’s not about the names on the back of the jerseys anymore. Instead, it’s “what have you done for me lately?” That’s how these things typically work during this time of the year.

In Berríos’ case, well, the past several weeks haven’t been kind to his playoff bid. In his most recent start on Tuesday, coming against the sub-.500 Tampa Bay Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field (home of the New York Yankees’ single-A affiliate), the results were again subpar.

Despite receiving four runs of support through the first two innings, the 31-year-old righty only lasted four in his 30th start of 2025, hitting that mark for the seventh consecutive season (excluding the ’20 COVID-shortened campaign). Granted, all three runs he allowed came via Brandon Lowe’s controversial fan-interfered home run during the bottom of the third.

Even so, Berríos was pulled before facing Tampa Bay’s lineup for a third time, departing without recording a strikeout — inducing just a pair of swings and misses on 31 swings (six per cent).

Berríos has been a workhorse for the Blue Jays all season. Nothing has changed on that front. However, it’s impossible to ignore his recent struggles, which have now amounted to a 6.14 ERA over his last five starts — ranking 102nd out of 124 qualified major league starters (min. 20 innings pitched) since Aug. 17.

On top of that, the veteran right-hander also owns a 5.47 FIP during that same span, surrendering at least one home run — five total — in four of his previous five outings. That’s not good enough for this team to hand him the keys to the car in a post-season start.

He needs to be at his best for that to happen. However, it has been the opposite over the last month. He isn’t himself. He isn’t right on the mound, and it all revolves around his slurve, which is at the root of the cause here.

It’s his primary swing-and-miss offering. But it hasn’t looked right lately, causing him to lean on other pitches for outs, which hasn’t gone smoothly, leading to his 12.6-per-cent whiff rate in September — the lowest percentage of any month in his career.

The bigger problem for the Blue Jays is time, or a lack thereof. There isn’t a long enough runway for Berríos to work through these issues. He may only make one more start before the regular season ends, with him likely slotted to kick off next week’s homestand versus the Boston Red Sox.

Berríos’ woes can’t be solved by a single start. They’re likely more complex than that. As such, we’re inching closer to an uncomfortable scenario that this team probably was hoping to avoid: leaving Berríos off its playoff roster.

Those conversations are never easy, especially with a player that the organization views so highly and has invested immense resources into. In the end, though, this is all about constructing the best roster of 26 players who can help you win a World Series.

As currently constituted, that likely doesn’t include Berríos.