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Jose Berrios underwent complete Tommy John surgery on his right elbow on Wednesday, sidelining the veteran starter for the Toronto Blue Jays until the 2027 season.
The Blue Jays hoped Berríos — who missed the World Series in Toronto last fall with elbow inflammation — would need less invasive surgery to repair a stress fracture and remove loose bodies in his right elbow.
But manager John Schneider said a loose body was found on the ligament, requiring a Tommy John procedure by Dr. Keith Meister in Texas.
“It’s kind of like I have an answer,” Schneider said before the Blue Jays faced the New York Yankees. “It sucks for him, it sucks for us. I know he’s going to hit rehab. This is just the time where it sucks. Not having him here sucks too.”
Berríos, 31, looked healthy at the start of spring training. But he opened the season on the injured list with a stress fracture and posted a 10.67 ERA while displaying reduced velocity and battling a sore elbow in four rehab starts.
“When you have something, guys are usually fine when it’s not surgically (repaired) initially,” Schneider said. “I really didn’t see that coming.”
Berríos and teammate Patrick Corbin are the only pitchers to make at least 30 starts in each of the last seven full seasons, dating back to 2018. Berríos, in the fifth year of a seven-year contract signed in November 2021, is 53-39 with a 4.09 ERA since being acquired from the Minnesota Twins in July 2021.
“Since we acquired it, it’s been stable, it’s kind of a part of what we do and it’s reliable, obviously,” Schneider said. “It’s weird not having him. I think we were looking for him to get back to normal a little bit. And he was hoping for that too.”
Berríos’ season-ending surgery is another blow to an injury-plagued Toronto rotation. Shane Bieber has yet to start this season due to stiffness in his right forearm. Cody Ponce, who signed with the Blue Jays after four seasons in Japan, suffered a season-ending right knee injury in his first start on March 30. Bowden Francis, who made 27 starts over the previous two seasons, underwent Tommy John surgery in February.
Veteran Max Scherzer was limited to five starts because of forearm and ankle injuries, while Trey Yesavage, a sensational playoff rookie last year, was scheduled to make his fifth start Wednesday after missing the first month with a right shoulder impingement.
Schneider said Scherzer was scheduled to have a bullpen session Thursday while Bieber could begin rehab next week. Bieber would likely need at least four or five starts before becoming an option for the Blue Jays, who entered Wednesday at 21-27 and 11 1/2 games behind the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East.
Associated Press reporting
