What to Make of José Berríos' Start Against the Angels

The line certainly wasn't pristine.

Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani's Angels punched six runs (four earned) on José Berríos’ ticket, chasing the Blue Jays starter after four innings in Saturday's Los Angeles win: 4IP 4ER 5K 1BB.

The numbers look a lot like Berríos' calamitous season debut against the Royals, and more of the 2022 he was hoping to leave in the past. The start wasn't quite as disastrous as Berríos' line indicates, but silver linings were overshadowed by the usual mistakes. With Berríos' hopes for early-season momentum dashed, what do we take away from his second outing?

The Angels' lineup doesn't welcome opposing starters with a gentle handshake, tasking them with Taylor Ward, Trout, and Ohtani off the top. In Berríos' outing against the Royals last week, he allowed four hits and three runs in the first frame. Against Los Angeles' formidable first bats, he started quick and clean.

A deep flyout from Ward drew cheers from the Angels’ faithful, but the Trout grounder and three-pitch strikeout of Ohtani that followed sent Toronto’s starter back to the dugout on just seven pitches. In the first few frames, Berríos was efficient, with well-located sinkers and breaking balls falling below flailing Angels bats.

The slurve was Berríos' most-used pitch on Saturday, throwing it 27 times (38% of his deliveries) and earning six whiffs on nine swings. Early on, the big breaker paired with well-placed changeups and fastballs on the edge—Berríos' recipe for success.

Hunter Renfroe shook his head after whiffing over a precisely placed breaking ball in the second inning. Moments after Renfroe paced back to the Los Angeles’ dugout, Berríos was clapping his glove and shouting in confidence, thanking his infield teammates for a smoothly-turned double play to end the inning.

Berríos has lacked that confidence and fire at times over the last season and two starts. It’s been a year of searching for answers, instead of sitting down batters. Early Saturday, it looked like the Blue Jays' pitcher was forming a start to build on, wiping away the debut.

But then, he ran into the big inning that's tormented him. With a Trout walk and doubles from Ohtani and Hunter Renfroe in the fourth inning, the Angels pushed two across. Fastballs started leaking back over the plate, bounced slurves led to walks, and the three solid innings that proceeded washed away. Berríos navigated out of that fourth frame eventually but didn't get another out. After allowing the first two batters on in the fifth, John Schneider took Berríos out of the game. A Trout homer off Adam Cimber added two more runs to the starter's line.

In his first start of the season, Berríos allowed 11 hard-hit balls. On Saturday, it was 'just' five. His sinker owned the inside of the plate and the changeup was a perfect weapon against LA's lefty hitters.

Less hard contact, more swing-and-miss. But at the end of the outing, it was the same rough line we saw against the Royals, and far too often last year.

The best of Berríos is still there, but the misplaced fastballs and unraveling innings mask it. The good pitches are wiped away by the few bad. Berríos proved he can still break off breaking balls and sit down the top of lineups on seven pitches. But when the frames start heading sour, can he limit the mistakes?