KANSAS CITY -- The Blue Jays hoped to see the José Berríos of old, but they wanted that time machine set further back than 2022.

That’s what we saw more of Monday night at Kauffman Stadium, as Berríos allowed eight runs over 5 2/3 innings against a Royals team that had scored just four runs in its first three games of the season.

The 9-5 loss slides the Blue Jays to 1-3, and the eye test has been every bit as disappointing as those numbers sound. This is still one of the American League’s more talented clubs, capable of making these early worries disappear as early as tomorrow, but this first trip through the rotation has been an awfully uncomfortable start.

“It’s tough to kind of crawl out of a hole every night,” said manager John Schneider, “but we trust these guys. It’s early. The beginning of the year is tough. It’s everyone’s first time through, so they’re trying to get their footing a little bit. It’s tough for the offense to throw some things out there consistently when you’re down like that. First time through, so hopefully it gets better the second time.”

Toronto’s four starters have combined to post a 10.80 ERA over 18 1/3 innings, allowing a whopping 36 hits while striking out 17. This is where patience is required, but that’s a different equation for each pitcher, especially given the sky-high 2023 expectations for a club that’s learned just how valuable every win is.

Kevin Gausman gave the Blue Jays their lone strong start and looks set for another excellent season, but Alek Manoah and Chris Bassitt had rough outings in front of Berríos. Manoah is coming off a third-place finish in AL Cy Young Award voting, though, and Bassitt entered with a 3.29 ERA over his past five seasons. They’ve earned, and deserve, the belief that things will correct eventually.

• Side gig? Manoah is MLB Network's newest correspondent

That’s the position Berríos was in last season, though, and his numbers never corrected. Patience is wise in the early days, but it always has a limit.

We can complicate this with the dozens of adjustments, the metrics of what’s gone wrong and the probabilities it may go right again, but the big picture here is simple. The Blue Jays need Berríos or Yusei Kikuchi to bounce back and solidify the back end of their rotation, especially if there are some early struggles elsewhere.

Berríos has all of the talent to do exactly that. Besides, his run of success with the Twins prior to the 2021 trade wasn’t an accident. Pitching at the highest level is impressive enough, but doing it so consistently over a five-year span was what made Berríos so unique. It’s why Toronto handed him a seven-year, $131 million extension and had no trouble getting eight hours of sleep that night. That version of Berríos is still in there, but he and the Blue Jays are still looking for ways to bring him out consistently.

“There were really good innings, then pitches in the middle of the plate, which is what we’re trying to avoid,” Schneider said. “He executed, but I think the consistency of it wasn’t exactly where we, or he, had hoped.”

Berríos felt the same, and it’s obvious that this is where some of the frustration lies. He’s so close.

“I missed some pitches. It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t the way that we wanted,” Berríos said. “They had a good approach against me and they got the hits. That was on me.”

The one thing no one in the clubhouse or front office is questioning is Berríos’ work. He cares deeply about what’s happening, taking these results to heart, which he showed throughout 2022.

“He was as accountable as hell, in front of his teammates and to us,” Schneider said. “No one was harder on him than him. He would stand up and say, ‘I wasn’t good enough today.’ On the days he was, he was like, ‘Hey, that’s what I should do.’ He’s been good for so long that I think it’s easy for him to do that, but he’s been his own toughest critic, for sure.”

That can wear on a player, especially one with a track record of success -- and the accompanying expectations -- Berríos has. Most of the rotation’s early struggles will correct themselves naturally, but given Berríos’ 2022 season, the eyes will stay on him as he continues to search for a way back.