José Berríos To Miss Opening Day for Blue Jays With Stress Fracture In Elbow

The Toronto Blue Jays’ starting rotation depth is going to be tested right away. On Wednesday morning, the team announced that right-hander José Berríos will not be ready to open the 2025-26 season after being diagnosed with a stress fracture in his right elbow. 

Prior to joining Team Puerto Rico for the quarterfinals at the World Baseball Classic, Berríos underwent a precautionary MRI for insurance purposes, which revealed elbow inflammation. That resulted in the 31-year-old going for a second opinion from Dr. Keith Meister, who diagnosed the stress fracture. 

Per MLB.com’s Keegan Matheson, Blue Jays manager John Schneider states that Berríos remains pain-free, and the team hopes that he will return to throwing soon and pitch through the injury. In 2025, Berríos made 31 appearances, with 30 of them coming as a starter. Across those 31 outings, he went 9-5 with an ERA of 4.17 and a WHIP of 1.30, striking out 138 batters in 166 innings. 

Berríos, nicknamed “La Makina” (“The Machine”), had been a model of consistency in his career, routinely making 32 starts and delivering quality innings for both the Minnesota Twins and Blue Jays. Last season, Berríos made his first career trip to the injured list, dealing with right elbow inflammation in September, which ultimately ended his season. His latest elbow issue is supposedly unrelated. 

The questions surrounding the Jays’ rotation only grow now. With Berríos sidelined, Shane Bieber still ramping up after dealing with forearm fatigue (he's yet to throw a pitch in a game), and the Blue Jays slowly building up Trey Yesavage in what will be his first full season at the MLB level, Toronto's depth is slowly being depleted. 

Kevin Gausman has the Opening Day assignment, and Dylan Cease appears likely to follow. After that, the questions are plentiful. Cody Ponce, making his MLB return, will have a role, and 41-year-old Max Scherzer should be guaranteed a role in the rotation, as long as he's ready come Opening Day. The fifth and final spot will likely be split between Yesavage on a pitch limit and left-hander Eric Lauer. 

Having to use Lauer as a piggyback partner for Yesavage could prompt the Blue Jays to keep Lázaro Estrada on the roster for Opening Day. Estrada has shown the ability to throw multiple innings in an outing, something the Blue Jays could be getting desperate for as injuries continue to pop up. 

The Blue Jays open their regular season at home on Friday, March 27, against the Athletics.