Blue Jays: Jose Berrios – 2022 Cy Young Candidate

Berrios and Ray are Comparable

In case anyone forgot, the Blue Jays just had a player win the Cy Young. Robbie Ray put together a historic season in 2021, half of that year was spent with our new friend Jose Berrios. Ray stayed true to his approach last season. He attacked with fastballs and sliders, which produced a lot of good results as swings and misses were a large part of his game. This lead to a plethora of strikeouts for him last season, despite hitters making good contact when they managed to put the barrel to the ball. Ray also limited walks. His ability to throw strikes and not grant base on balls was good enough to place him in the 73rd percentile. This makeup and plan of attack are similar to that of Berrios.

Berrios works off of his breaking ball and fastball, mostly. In 2021, he used his fastball 56.3% of the time and his breaking ball 30.5% of the time. This combo of pitches produced a chase rate in the 79th percentile. While he’s getting these hitters to chase his pitches out of the zone and strikeout, he also limits the walks. Baseball Savant has him in the 85th percentile in BB%. These numbers illustrate that Berrios controls the zone exceptionally well with his pitches while still striking hitters out.

This method of pitching paired with the selection of pitches makes for a good comparison between Berrios and his departed counterpart, Robbie Ray. Berrios has the makeup and work ethic to perform at an elite level. Ray thrived in Toronto with his simple pitch mix and pounding the zone, why can’t Jose?