Schneider: Elbow Surgery "On the Table" for José Berríos

[Leo Morgenstern]

José Berríos has been on the injured list all season with a stress fracture in his right elbow. He seemed to be nearing a return until he suffered a setback after four rehab starts. He has since gone for imaging and met with Dr. Keith Meister. Today, John Schneider told reporters, including Sportsnet's Ben Nicholson-Smith, that "surgery is on the table" for Berríos.

Given all the confusing details surrounding the right-hander's elbow health, it's hard to guess what kind of surgery it would be. However, at this point in the year, it's very likely that any kind of surgery would end his season. 

Rotation depth continues to be an issue for the Blue Jays, with Shane Bieber, Cody Ponce, and Max Scherzer joining Berríos on the IL. Eric Lauer was designated for assignment earlier this week, leaving just four fixtures on Toronto's starting staff: Kevin Gausman, Dylan Cease, Trey Yesavage, and Patrick Corbin. While the team has survived to this point, losing Berríos for the year could be tough to overcome. 

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[Spanky__99]

This year has been awful in pitching news.

[jaysblue]

Never thought I’d hear “elbow surgery” and “Berríos” in the same sentence.

The guy was as durable as it gets. Always reliable, always healthy, and you could basically pencil him in for 30 starts every year, even if he wasn’t always the most effective. That kind of availability is rare, and it’s easy to take it for granted until it’s gone.
 

[Jonn]

That Berrios extension was an absolute disaster. I wish we all preferred we kept Austin Martin and SWR right now.

[G-Snarls]

Jose Berrios To Undergo Elbow Surgery

May 16th, 2026 at 10:44am CST • By Mark Polishuk

Jose Berrios will undergo surgery on Wednesday to repair a stress fracture in his right elbow, as Blue Jays manager John Schneider told Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae and other reporters. Dr. Keith Meister will perform the procedure, and it is possible the surgery could be more complicated since “there is some concern about [Berrios’] ligament,” Mae writes. A recovery timeline (or whether or not Berrios will pitch at all in 2026) therefore won’t be known until the surgery is complete, and a further assessment is made for any ligament damage.

[Jays24]

Sucks how the Berrios + Santandar injuries have gone.  Would love to know the details as to why theres been such a delay from when they first got hurt to getting their surgeries much later.  

[Stangstag]

4 hours ago, jaysblue said:

Never thought I’d hear “elbow surgery” and “Berríos” in the same sentence.

The guy was as durable as it gets. Always reliable, always healthy, and you could basically pencil him in for 30 starts every year, even if he wasn’t always the most effective. That kind of availability is rare, and it’s easy to take it for granted until it’s gone.
 

Seriously man, what a disappointing contract. And we were super close to extending Manoah at the time too i think, what a blessing we didn't.

 

[Stangstag]

1 hour ago, Jays24 said:

Sucks how the Berrios + Santandar injuries have gone.  Would love to know the details as to why theres been such a delay from when they first got hurt to getting their surgeries much later.  

Yeah seems like stupidity or stubbornness on their part to not get things checked/figured out in the offseason. 

Santander is super egregious, dude was injured most of last year and comes to camp throws a baseball for the first time in months and realizes he's injured?? Like come on dude.

[Stangstag]

1 hour ago, G-Snarls said:

Jose Berrios To Undergo Elbow Surgery

May 16th, 2026 at 10:44am CST • By Mark Polishuk

Jose Berrios will undergo surgery on Wednesday to repair a stress fracture in his right elbow, as Blue Jays manager John Schneider told Sportsnet’s Hazel Mae and other reporters. Dr. Keith Meister will perform the procedure, and it is possible the surgery could be more complicated since “there is some concern about [Berrios’] ligament,” Mae writes. A recovery timeline (or whether or not Berrios will pitch at all in 2026) therefore won’t be known until the surgery is complete, and a further assessment is made for any ligament damage.

Can we get him to Ohtani's doctor instead?

[Stangstag]

1 hour ago, Jonn said:

That Berrios extension was an absolute disaster. I wish we all preferred we kept Austin Martin and SWR right now.

I still think the trade was ok. the mistake was the timing of the extension. If they had waited til he was a free agent, he probably signs a 1 yr deal or like a 3/45. 

Just unfortunate, who could have known he'd turn into a pumpkin so soon

[Eat My Shatkins]

Berrios either didn't know he was seriously hurt or chose to pitch through it. Would explain the steady decline in his velocity and stuff.

Hes only 32. If he gets surgery and comes back healthy next season maybe we see an uptick in his velocity and stuff again and he returns to being a solid mid rotation arm in the last two years of his deal.

[Laika]

I think elbow surgery being on the table makes more sense than elbow surgery being on the floor 

More germs on the floor 

Good luck, Jose. Have a nice retirement 

[bronson44]

 

[Jonn]

[John_Havok]

On 5/16/2026 at 10:15 AM, Jays24 said:

Sucks how the Berrios + Santandar injuries have gone.  Would love to know the details as to why theres been such a delay from when they first got hurt to getting their surgeries much later.  

Not gonna lie, I legit forgot Santander existed.

[max silver]

On 5/16/2026 at 11:39 AM, Stangstag said:

Yeah seems like stupidity or stubbornness on their part to not get things checked/figured out in the offseason. 

Santander is super egregious, dude was injured most of last year and comes to camp throws a baseball for the first time in months and realizes he's injured?? Like come on dude.

I don't think that's how the Santander situation really played out. Here's what Santander had to say regarding the injury.

Quote

Speaking Wednesday morning for the first time since last season, Santander said that the MRIs he underwent mid-season, around the time of the injury, showed nothing. He rehabbed most of the summer, and after a back issue knocked him off the postseason roster, Santander and the Blue Jays decided to work on more rehab, more strength for that shoulder. It wasn’t until January, when Santander started hitting again, when something started to feel “weird” again. That led to more tests, which leads us to today.

“When I finally had the surgery, when they opened up, they could see that I needed it,” Santander said through club interpreter Hector Lebron. “They didn’t know why the MRI didn’t show the labral part, how bad it was. They couldn’t explain that, the doctors. Obviously, I needed the surgery.”

https://www.mlb.com/news/anthony-santander-talks-shoulder-injury-2026-timeline

[max silver]

On 5/16/2026 at 10:08 AM, Jonn said:

That Berrios extension was an absolute disaster. I wish we all preferred we kept Austin Martin and SWR right now.

Neither of those guys would have helped the Blue Jays in the 2021-2025 seasons in which Berrios provided 8 wins above replacement. He was an important member of the rotation for most of his time as a Blue Jay and neither of Martin or SWR would have been very important parts of that window of contention. 

[Jays24]

1 hour ago, John_Havok said:

Not gonna lie, I legit forgot Santander existed.

With the lack of power, he'd be so good for us right now.