Jose Berrios Undergoes Tommy John Surgery — Jays Score Lose 31-Year-Old Starter
jays score lost Jose Berrios to Tommy John surgery on Wednesday, and the 31-year-old right-hander is expected to be sidelined for 12-18 months. Toronto also loses a pitcher who had been one of its most durable arms before elbow problems changed the picture.
Berrios And The Blue Jays
Berrios pitched in 275 games from 2017-2025, with all but two of them starts, and logged 1,571.2 innings in that span. His workload had made him a steady base in the rotation, but the elbow issue pushed him off that track and into a far longer recovery than Toronto needed.
John Schneider did not hide the impact after the news came out. “Since we acquired him, he's just been steady, been part of what we're doing and reliable, obviously,” he said. “It's weird not having him. We were looking for him to just kind of get back to normal a little bit and he was hoping for that, too. …”
Elbow Problems Mount
The path to surgery stretched back several months. Berrios was moved to the bullpen last September amid a rough stretch of outings, made one relief appearance, and then went on the injured list with elbow inflammation for the first time in the big leagues. In February, he said he had doubts about his health as far back as the previous spring.
A stress fracture in his right elbow was found during an insurance physical for the World Baseball Classic, and he resumed building up last month after a period of healing. By early May, he was on the cusp of a return when his velocity dipped in consecutive rehab outings with Triple-A Buffalo and he had more than the expected soreness during his work.
Toronto Rotation Pressure
A follow-up visit with Dr. Keith Meister led to the Tommy John surgery after the stress fracture had broken off and caused irritation to the ligament. Berrios had 30 starts overall, with a 4.06 ERA across 164 innings, a 3.26 ERA through his first 17 starts, and a 5.37 ERA in his final 13 starts.
The timing leaves Toronto thinner again. The Blue Jays have already lost Cody Ponce for the season, while Shane Bieber has not yet made his first pitches of the season and Max Scherzer is also out. Schneider kept the mood plain: “It sucks for him. It sucks for us,” he said. “I know he'll attack the rehab. It's just the time part of it sucks and not having him here sucks, too.”
The surgery also settles the shape of Berrios’s contract situation. His 2027 and 2028 seasons are all but locked in at $24 million apiece, and he is essentially certain not to exercise an opt-out at the end of this season. Toronto now has to plan without a pitcher whose innings had been dependable for years, and without any quick way to replace them.
