José Berríos’ 2026 season is officially over, and before it ever truly began.

The 31-year-old starter underwent Tommy John surgery on Wednesday, as Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider revealed prior to first pitch, Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae relayed. It was initially unclear if he’d require full TJ surgery or a clean-up procedure to address the stress fracture in his right elbow.

Now that Berríos has encountered the worst-case scenario, he’ll be sidelined for the remainder of this season and likely the first half of next year, if not longer.

Berríos was originally symptom-free back during spring training when an MRI — prompted by the club once the native of Puerto Rico was denied insurance coverage to participate in March’s World Baseball Classic — revealed the fracture in his right elbow. But after meeting with Dr. Keith Meister the first time, all involved decided he could continue pitching as long as he felt no pain or discomfort.

And that’s what he did, until he felt soreness in that arm following his final Triple-A rehab game on May 3.

The Blue Jays sent Berríos for additional imaging and a second visit with Dr. Meister, who recommended season-ending TJ surgery after ligament damage was discovered. As a result, one of baseball’s most durable starters is now facing a 12-18 month recovery timeline.

This is a devastating and unfortunate outcome for not only the team, which is still without a fifth starter (though Spencer Miles appears to be the bulk guy in that spot for now), but also for Berríos. He had been as consistent and durable as they come, avoiding the injured list for his entire career until finishing last season on the shelf, ending his streak of 32 starts per year at six seasons (excluding 2020).

These last eight months have been one tough break after another for Toronto’s right-handed starter. His body let him down for much of last season, to the point that he couldn’t push through any longer down the stretch, preventing him from further contributing on the franchise’s magical run to the World Series. And it’s now failed him once again.

Of course, Berríos also had plenty to prove after returning home to be with his family during last year’s Fall Classic. Not to mention, he entered camp having to earn back his rotation spot, a time when this team had more healthy starters than jobs available. Things have, obviously, changed dramatically since then.

Looking ahead beyond this year, Berríos will have a not-so-difficult decision to make regarding his future next off-season, given that his contract holds an opt-out clause with two years and roughly $49 million remaining. He’ll exercise what’s essentially a two-year player option there and hope to return at some point around next season’s All-Star break.

Considering that Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber, Max Scherzer and Patrick Corbin are free agents after ’26, there may be an opportunity for a fully recovered Berríos to play a role in the club’s ’27 rotation plans.

No other pitcher made more starts (234) or logged more innings (1,367.2) than Berríos from 2018-25. Based on how many Blue Jays starters have been struck by the injury bug thus far, you never know when some of that durability may come in handy.

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