The Toronto Blue Jays have run into yet another troubling roadblock with José Berríos.

Berríos, scratched from his Grapefruit League start against the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday due to right elbow inflammation, is scheduled for an in-person visit in Texas with specialist Dr. Keith Meister on Tuesday, manager John Schneider revealed at the player development complex Friday morning.

Schneider added that Meister has already viewed Berríos’ MRI results from earlier this week and that the club wants to “confirm” the condition of the 31-year-old’s elbow. He won’t throw and will remain off a mound until the team determines next steps upon his return.

Both Schneider and Berríos said Thursday that they were surprised when the veteran hurler was denied insurance coverage for the World Baseball Classic. But they added that this current bout of inflammation is different from the one that sidelined him in late September and throughout the entire post-season.

When asked about his elbow inside the PDC’s clubhouse, Berríos dismissed the notion of being hurt and reiterated that he’s been “feeling good throwing the ball” in camp this spring.

The Blue Jays are applying extra caution here with Berríos, wanting to ensure he’s 100 per cent healthy when camp breaks after he admitted to experiencing biceps and elbow soreness for much of last season before hitting the IL.

It’ll be difficult to know what comes next for the right-handed starter until the club receives Meister’s assessment next week. From there, they’ll have a better idea whether he can resume playing catch and ramp back up or remain shut down for another few days or longer.

With Opening Day exactly two weeks away, this latest development further clouds Berríos’ status and won’t leave him much time to conclude his starter’s build-up if he misses extended time. In that case, if he doesn’t reach that mark — he’s thrown as many as 63 pitches this spring — starting this season on the IL may become unavoidable.

But we aren’t there quite yet. It’s still entirely possible that Berríos receives the all-clear after meeting with Meister. No one will know for sure until that meeting happens.

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