Molina: Blue Jays’ Berrios will join Puerto Rico for World Baseball Classic quarterfinals
Puerto Rico will be adding firepower to their rotation via the Toronto Blue Jays for the World Baseball Classic’s knockout round.
Berrios was among several players – many of them Puerto Rican, including Francisco Lindor and Carlos Correa – who were denied insurance for the WBC’s round robin stage due to health concerns.
The 30-year-old right-hander dealt with nagging bicep and elbow issues last season for the Blue Jays and eventually wound up on the injured list in late September due to right elbow inflammation. It was Berrios’s first time being placed on the IL in his 10-year career.
Yadier Molina said Jose Berrios has received clearance to join Puerto Rico for the World Baseball Classic QF and will be available to pitch.
The turn of events was uncharacteristic for a player nicknamed La Makina for his machine-like work ethic and durability. Berrios was left off the World Series roster and went to Puerto Rico instead of remaining with the team during the Fall Classic, citing a focus on family and rehab as the reasons for his departure.
Berrios apologized for his absence at the outset of spring training.
“I made maybe one bad decision to go back home to keep working on my rehab and stay close to my family,” Berrios said to reporters at the Blue Jays player development complex in February. “At that moment, I wasn’t pitching, I’m not feeling great, and I wanted to be close to my family. I didn’t bring them to Canada because they were going to miss days in school. I thought about that. But I apologize.”
So far in spring action, Berrios has pitched to a 3.38 ERA with seven strikeouts and four walks over 10 2/3 innings, and has built up to roughly 60 pitches before Spring Training in anticipation of pitching for Puerto Rico.