Reliably pitching deep into ballgames is one of the biggest factors that drew the Blue Jays to Jose Berrios and he showed everyone why in his Toronto debut. ArdenZwelling | TD_Canada
pounded his glove and shook his head with frustration. That heavy sinker can get away from him at times, breaking more than 16 inches in to a right-handed hitter. But giving up free bases like that isn’t part of the deal with Berrios, who entered Sunday’s outing having walked only 2.4 per nine and hit just eight batters all season, after hitting only three in 2020. Taylor was Berrios’s third hit batter of the day.
That was the toughest moment Berrios faced throughout an outstanding Blue Jays debut in which he threw six shutout innings, striking out those seven while walking only one, as the Blue Jays completed a series sweep of thewith a 5-1 victory. Leaning heavily on his curveball, as he does, Berrios ran up 11 swinging strikes and earned called ones with all four of his pitches, showing Blue Jays fans just how good he can be even on days when he’s not quite at his best.
Meanwhile, early run support came off the bats of George Springer, who doubled the game’s opening run home in the third, Marcus Semien, who crushed a two-run shot later that inning, and Santiago Espinal, who snuck a solo shot over the left field wall in the fourth. Espinal walked with the bases loaded in the fifth to cash another, continuing a quietly strong season in which he’s now hitting .312/.362/.428 with a 118 wRC+ in limited playing time.
And he appears to be getting better. His strikeout rate has progressively increased over the course of his career, reaching a high of 25.7 per cent this season, while his 2021 walk rate — 6.5 per cent — is just a shade off his career-low and ranks among MLB’s 75th percentile.
He’ll sail it away from right-handed hitters for swing-and-miss and he’ll drive it at the back feet of lefties. Or He’ll backdoor it to those left-handers and drop it on the inner half to righties who think it might hit them. It’s a heavy duty weapon, and when he’s tunnelling off a sinker that runs in the opposite direction, a four-seamer with decent ride, and a sneaky changeup that left-handers have to respect, Berrios makes for an incredibly uncomfortable plate appearance.
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