Toronto Blue Jays Say That Veteran Hurler is in the Mix For Opening Day Start

The Blue Jays have several choices for their Opening Day starter, and apparently Jose Berrios could get a look.

Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Jose Berrios (17) during spring training workouts at TD Ballpark in 2025. | Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

According to Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet, the Toronto Blue Jays haven't decided on an Opening Day starter yet, but Jose Berrios is in the mix for the job.

Jays haven’t decided on an opening day starter but Jose Berrios is definitely in the mix per manager John Schneider

— Ben Nicholson-Smith (@bnicholsonsmith) March 3, 2025

It's an interesting decision for the Jays, who are littered with veteran starters, including Berrios, Max Scherzer, Chris Bassitt and Kevin Gausman.

The 30-year-old Berrios is a nine-year veteran of the Twins and Blue Jays who is a two-time All-Star. Having gone 99-77 for his career, Berrios has seven different seasons of double-digit victories. He is coming off a year in which he went 16-11 with a 3.60 ERA. He struck out 153 batters in 192.1 innings.

If the Blue Jays are going to be good in 2025, they'll need a solid year from the rotation, which underwhelmed last season. They'll also need a solid year from their major offseason additions, including Scherzer, Anthony Santander, Jeff Hoffman, Yimi Garcia and Andres Gimenez.

Toronto went 74-88 last season, finishing last in the American League East. The division seems like a gauntlet once again, with the Yankees and Red Sox each making significant moves to improve their rosters. Furthermore, the Rays should be better with a full year of health from Drew Rasmussen and Shane McClanahan.

Toronto will continue Grapefruit League play for the next three-plus week before beginning the season on March 27 against the division-rival Baltimore Orioles.

The O's got to the playoffs last season by finishing second in the division. Schneider will announce his Opening Day starter in the coming weeks.

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