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Blue Jays’ José Berríos struggles in third rehab start as 2026 debut awaits
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Photo credit: © Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images
Michael Coyle
Apr 29, 2026, 08:00 EDTUpdated: Apr 28, 2026, 23:27 EDT
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The good news is Toronto Blue Jays right-hander José Berríos made his third rehab start as he works his way back from a stress fracture in his pitching elbow; the bad news is the start didn’t go very well.
Before taking the mound, Berríos was staked to a five-run lead, a lead that was relinquished by the bottom of the third. New Yankees number six-ranked prospect per MLB Pipeline and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre leadoff hitter Spencer Jones opened the bottom of the first with a line drive home run to right field. Berríos responded by retiring Yanquiel Fernández on a groundout, former Paul DeJong on a flyout, and Seth Brown on a four-pitch strikeout. 
Berríos got burnt again by Jones in the bottom of the second inning, this time via a single to centre field that drove in two runners. A leadoff walk to DeJong opened the third, before allowing a two-run home run off the bat of former Athletics first baseman, Brown. 
Berríos returned for the top of the fourth inning, in what was his first clean inning of the evening. Berríos only required six pitches to set down Duncan Pastore with a lineout to shortstop, got Jones to strikeout by swinging through a sinker, then retired Fernández to fly out to center field. 
Overall, Berríos’ line was 4.0 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, finishing off his outing by throwing 70 pitches, up 15 from the 55 he threw in his previous outing. The right-hander’s fastball topped out at 94.5 MPH, and he threw 42 of those 70 pitches for strikes.
Berríos averaged 91.9 with his four-seamer and 90.6 with his sinker, both averages being down from his previous two rehab outings. While this isn’t the start the Blue Jays were probably hoping for, it is worth noting that it was a cold night, only 13 degrees at first pitch. 
Over Berríos’ three starts with both Dunedin and Buffalo, the 31-year-old is 0-0 with an ERA of 8.44 and a WHIP of 1.50. While numbers don’t mean a whole lot, the .295 average against is a concerning development when facing minor league batters. Berríos has struck out 10 batters across 10 ⅔ innings, so while the hits are up, the strikeouts are a good sign as he works his way back. 
Trey Yesavage made four rehab appearances, two with Dunedin and two with Buffalo, before returning to the Blue Jays’ active roster. Yesavage topped out at 71 pitches before returning to the rotation, so if the Blue Jays follow the same model with Berríos, he could be in line to make his next outing with the big-league club. 
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