José Berríos Hits the 100-Win Milestone

José Berríos got the win in his last start, and with that he joined the triple-digit club, earning his 100th career win. In our preseason Milestones to Watch For piece we had this in the Ironclad Lock section, and rightfully so (Andrés Giménez has already hit 100 career stolen bases). Fifty-five of those wins came with Minnesota, where Berríos played before joining the Jays. He was a first-round draft pick (32nd overall) in 2012 and made his major league debut in 2016. He bounced between Triple-A and the majors, picking up his first three wins before cementing himself with the big club in May of 2017. He was a two-time all-star with the Twins (2018 and ‘19), and headed into the 2021 trade deadline, he was rumored to be available.

Interestingly, two other high-profile pitchers said to be available that year were Max Scherzer, who ultimately went to the Dodgers, and Yusei Kikuchi, who stuck around with the Mariners until the end of the season. Both, of course, would go on to sign as with the Jays as free agents in later years, Kickuchi in ‘22 and Scherzer this season. After the Scherzer trade “fell through” (the Jays were said to be interested, but I can’t find any historical record that says they were front-runners), Toronto turned their sights towards Minnesota and agreed on a deal for Berríos, giving up prospects Austin Martin and Simeon Woods-Richardson.

Berríos wasted no time getting into the win column with Toronto, picking up the W in his first start with his new team: a 5-1 win over the Royals in the Rogers Centre. It was an emotional win for both Berríos and the city as it gave the Jays a sweep over the Royals in the first series played in Toronto since the end of the 2019 season. The Jays played home games in Buffalo and Florida due to travel restrictions in the early days of the pandemic. That off-season saw the Jays award Berríos  a seven-year, $131 million contract, buying out the last year of arbitration and securing his spot in the rotation for years to come. Since then, he has been Toronto’s Opening Day starter in three out of four seasons and moved up to 18th in franchise history in wins.

There are 18 active players with 100 wins or more. At 31, Berríos is the youngest. Only Aaron Nola (age 32, 104 wins) and Michael Wacha (age 33, 101 wins) are within two years of his age. Berríos also has two teammates ahead of him on the list. Kevin Gausman is close (two wins and three years ahead of him), and Scherzer is an entire career ahead (10 years and 116 wins). Eleven of those players ahead of him, including Gausman, are within 12 wins, so depending on how this season shakes out, we could see Berríos leapfrog a few names. I mentioned earlier that Berríos’s 45 wins with the Jays have him 18th in franchise history. He would only need seven more wins to move all the way 11th and to put Kelvim Escobar (58 wins) and J.A. Happ (59 wins) on notice. A 15-win season (something Berríos has only done once) would give him sole possession of ninth and bring Juan Guzmán and Todd Stottlemyre into range for the 2026 season..

Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, let's just take a moment to appreciate the here and now, and hope that Berríos notches 101 in Baltimore tomorrow.