With ace-like dominance, is this the 'Year of Berríos'?

TORONTO -- It’s starting to feel like the José Berríos Year.

There’s something different about Berríos in 2024, but for so long, the beauty of his game was that nothing ever changed. Save for the oddball outlier of ‘22, Berríos has been baseball’s poster boy for consistency. He’s a classic. There’s no need for the annual remodel.

What if Berríos has another gear, though? For so long, Berríos has been cast as a “very good” pitcher who has reached cruising altitude. Undeniably talented, but the main attraction has been his reliability and the conversation has rarely expanded to consider Berríos’ remaining upside. That’s finally changing.

Berríos is off to the best start of his big league career, holding a 1.05 ERA after seven innings of scoreless ball in Sunday’s 5-0 win over the Rockies. Sure, Berríos got the Opening Day nod because Kevin Gausman’s schedule had been derailed earlier in camp, but Berríos is pitching like the ace now.

“'La Makina' is the machine,” Gausman said earlier this season. “He doesn’t stop. He’s different than all of us.”

It might not always show through your screen, but Berríos is in remarkable shape. He’s built like a linebacker, but still has the fluidity and flexibility to stay athletic in his delivery.

It’s the best of both worlds, a balance so few pitchers are able to strike.

“He lives up to his nickname, 'La Makina'. He’s a machine,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “It’s hard to find that durability in this day and age. His delivery is so consistent. When you're not fighting anything mechanically, you just go out and pitch. A lot of it is just him, his personality, his work ethic, the professional he is. It’s hard to do.”

It’s always an incremental game with Berríos, given how consistent he’s been. Even in 2022, when he posted a 5.23 ERA that seemed to come out of nowhere, Berríos didn’t “lose it” entirely.

If you walked past your TV at any point during the game, you wouldn’t see him sailing balls over the catcher’s head. Instead, it was a matter of inches. His fastballs were leaking over the plate. His breaking ball wasn’t kissing the edge of the zone. He was so close, it seemed, but everything was going wrong.

Now, it’s all going right. This is more than just a change of fortune or batted-ball luck, and it’s the underlying changes that lend some optimism to Berríos sustaining this.

The short version? Berríos is throwing his sinker and slurve more, but his four-seam fastball and changeup less. He’s really been leaning on that combination of his sinker and excellent breaking ball, which Schneider says is behind his success against left-handers. The pitches look as good as they ever have leaving his hand, but Berríos seems to have found a sweet spot with his mix.

“We worked so hard in the offseason, Spring Training, now during the season,” Berríos said. “It was more about getting stronger mentally. I’m still building myself and my ability. God gave me the blessing to play this beautiful sport. Now, I have to work hard every day and enjoy every pitch.”

All of this is so sweet for Berríos given how last year ended, with Berríos being yanked early in the AL Wild Card Series in Minneapolis, a decision that’s hung over this club since. He handled it so professionally, though, from the moments after that loss in a quiet clubhouse to the dawn of a new season this spring in Dunedin. As a person, just like as a pitcher, he’s reliable.

Eventually, one of those games will come again, and if Berríos keeps throwing the ball like this, he’s going to be on the mound. That’s what the Blue Jays planned on when they handed him a seven-year, $131 million extension soon after trading for him in ‘21, and while the road to get here has been winding, we’re seeing the fullest version of Berríos yet.

“We have the talent. We have the group,” Berríos said. “It’s just on us to keep doing what we’re doing. Like we say in our meetings: Win the series, win the World Series. That’s the goal.”

Berríos won’t start again until the Yankees leave town and the Blue Jays hit the road for San Diego, but there’s a palpable sense of momentum here. When you’re as consistent as Berríos is, your talent can almost be taken for granted across the league without a season that truly wows everyone, but this isn’t just another Berríos season.