Elbow inflammation throws wrench into Berríos' World Baseball Classic plans

DUNEDIN, Fla. -- Just when it felt like José Berríos was back to his old self, an MRI has thrown a wrench into those plans.

Berríos was undergoing testing for insurance purposes, hoping to join Puerto Rico for the quarterfinal stage of the World Baseball Classic, but an MRI showed inflammation in his right elbow. The Blue Jays, following up with an MRI of their own, found what John Schneider called “a different inflammation” from late last season.

The good news? It’s nothing structural, nothing impacting his ligaments. The bad news? Berríos was scratched from Thursday’s scheduled start and the Blue Jays are now in an “info gathering” stage.

“It’s weird. The MRI is seeing something, and what I feel is way different,” Berríos said. “The MRI says I have inflammation, so we need to take care of that.”

Schneider echoed Berríos, saying that if this were a non-WBC year and that initial MRI was not needed for insurance purposes, this wouldn’t be a conversation. What Schneider means -- and Berríos said much of the same -- is that there were no warning signs or symptoms that felt out of the ordinary. It’s even possible this is fortunate for the Blue Jays, catching some inflammation in the extremely early stages, but it’s not the news anyone wanted this late into camp.

“He feels great, and I can’t overstate that. He feels great,” Schneider said. “He’s going to continue to play catch until we get a bit more info, but he’s not going to start today. It’s a unique situation right now with an MRI and the WBC insurance.”

What this means for Berríos:

This has been a frustrating 12 months for Berríos. He fell out of the Blue Jays’ rotation late last season, hit the big league IL for the first time in his career, then stepped away from the team during the World Series (while still on the IL), which he apologized for earlier in camp this spring.

“To be honest, the most frustrating part was not going to the first round because the first round was in Puerto Rico,” said Berríos, who was born in the city of Bayamon. “To play there in front of my family, my friends but also my three kids. They are grown now, so they understand more. We have love and passion for the game and playing for your country.”

For now, Berríos will skip a start, but he’s not going to shut down from throwing entirely. He threw off flat ground Thursday morning at the Blue Jays’ complex in Dunedin and plans to keep doing so. Berríos hopes to make his next Spring Training start, and there’s a fine balance to strike here given that he is already built up, but all of those conversations are on hold.

“We’ll see. Hopefully nothing,” Schneider said. “We’ll know in the next couple of days, then sit down and talk with him and the doctors here again, and the doctors who have reviewed it, in relation to what it looked like last year. Hopefully, it’s nothing, but we’ll cross that bridge in a couple of days."

What this means for the Blue Jays’ rotation:

Have you heard that the Blue Jays have a lot of starting pitching depth?

Nine times out of 10, the solution to these logjams in the big leagues is that it will all take care of itself eventually. That’s a cruel reality, but given the rate of pitcher injuries and the unpredictable nature of performances from year to year, these things always have a way of falling into place, for better or for worse.

Smart front offices don’t assume any best-case scenarios, so for now, let’s work under the idea that Berríos may not be ready for Opening Day.

That would still leave a rotation of Dylan Cease, Kevin Gausman, Trey Yesavage, Max Scherzer and Cody Ponce, with Eric Lauer right there as the No. 6 or a long reliever. If anything, that would open up a spot in the bullpen instead, where Angel Bastardo has impressed as a Rule 5 pick and Tommy Nance is out of options.

Shane Bieber will be a factor eventually, too, but he hasn’t thrown off a mound yet, so we’re still talking about a month-plus of buildup when that time comes. By then, this rotation will have changed shapes in other ways we weren’t expecting, but with just over two weeks until Opening Day, this depth is already needed.