Berrios admits early postseason hook stung
Published
Many Toronto Blue Jays fans were puzzled last fall when starting pitcher Jose Berrios was pulled from Game 2 of the team's American League Wild Card Round Series with the Minnesota Twins after just three innings of work and 47 pitches.
The Jays would go on to lose the game 2-0 and the best-of-three series in two games.
Now months after the fact, Berrios admits that the early hook was difficult to process even though he had been told of manager John Schneider's plans ahead of time.
“Honestly, the first four or five days were really hard for me,” Berrios told the Toronto Sun's Rob Longley. “I was surprised. They had a plan. They had something they wanted to follow and they told me before the game. But it still surprised me because I’m a competitive guy and I didn’t want to come off of that mound the way that I was pitching. It was hard. Nobody wants to lose but especially that way.”
Not only was the reaction to the controversial move vociferous online, the 29-year-old Berrios says he heard from many friends in the game about it, as well.
“For sure there was a lot of reaction,” Berrios said. “They didn’t understand what had been happening in the clubhouse, so they got more upset about it.”
Berrios, set to enter his fourth season with the Jays, hopes to build on a bounce-back 2023 in which he lowered his earned run average from 5.23 in 2022 to 3.65 and WHIP from 1.419 in the previous season to 1.186.
“Obviously [having success] came with that mindset of confidence,” Berrios told Longley. “I was so locked in and believed in myself every time I went out there and pitched. Last year I was able to go throw quality pitches down in the zone and that worked for me. Being able to go out there and execute brought me that confidence I have before. So now it’s to keep building on top of that and be better. When you feel like that, you feel like nobody can beat you. That’s what you want.”
The Blue Jays open their Grapefruit League slate on Saturday at home in Dunedin, FL to the Philadelphia Phillies.