After some early-season injuries derailed the start of their season, the Toronto Blue Jays have started to build up some momentum.
After a victory against the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday, the team had won six of their last nine games. And perhaps most encouraging was the strong return of one of those injured players, as Trey Yesavage made his season debut and looked like the exciting young starter who emerged as a key playoff piece last year.
“In just his fifth career start, Yesavage went 5.1 innings, allowing four hits and zero walks while striking out three,” Frank Zicarelli reported for the Toronto Sun. “By the time he came out for the sixth inning, with the Jays ahead 2-0 thanks to a two-run double by Kamuza Okamoto in the third, the young right-hander had thrown 69 pitches. Four pitches and one strikeout later, manager John Schneider made the walk to the mound to end his night as the announced sold-out crowd of 41,949, showed its appreciation. The kid deserved it, even if he earned his first victory of the season without his best stuff. The bar is that high.”
Toronto Blue Jays Veteran Jose Berrios Sees Marked Setback In Start Against New York Yankees Affiliate
But even though Tuesday offered an encouraging healthy update for the team’s big-league rotation, there was also a new reason for worry.
Ten-year MLB veteran and two-time All-Star Jose Berrios saw a concerning setback on the mound on Tuesday against the division rival New York Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate, the Scranton Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
“Jose Berrios got knocked around in his rehab outing with the Buffalo Bisons. allowing five runs on five hits over four innings,” Mike Wilner wrote for the Toronto Star. “Berrios, making his way back from a stress fracture in his right elbow, threw all his pitches with reduced velocity. His fastball averaged just 91.9 miles per hour, down from 93.5 in his previous rehab start.”
Toronto Blue Jays’ Jose Berrios Struggles In Latest Rehab Start
The poor outing was a notable setback for Berrios, who has made three minor-league starts this season as he works his way back to the Blue Jays’ rotation. On Tuesday, he logged an 11.25 ERA with just two strikeouts in four innings, following a four-inning outing with the Single-A Dunedin Blue Jays last week that saw him rack up five strikeouts with a 6.75 ERA in four innings.
And that is not the kind of progress that the Blue Jays might have hoped to see from Berrios in the fifth year of a seven-year, $131 million extension that he signed in 2021.
This article was originally published on Forbes.com