Blue Jays tab José Berríos as Opening Day starter

Opening Day will also be a José Berríos bump day. 

On Monday, Blue Jays manager John Schenider announced that Berríos will get the nod on Opening Day for the Blue Jays. 

It's just another feather in the cap for Berríos, who will be making his third Opening Day start as a Blue Jay. 

Blue Jays tab José Berríos as Opening Day starter

Along with being Berríos’ third Opening Day start as a Blue Jays, this’ll be his fifth total Opening Day start, as he had two with the Twins prior to being traded to the Blue Jays. 

Berríos will get the nod against Baltimore’s Zach Eflin, who started on Opening Day against the Blue Jays last year when he was a member of the Tampa Bay Rays. 

Berríos made two starts against the Orioles last year and allowed four runs in 13 innings of work. He’s made 16 career starts against Baltimore in his career (the fourth-most he’s made against any one team in his career) and is 10-1 with a 2.92 ERA in those starts.

He’ll make the start on the back of a strong spring. He allowed three runs in 12 2/3 innings, and tossed six scoreless innings against the Braves his last time out. 

Last year Berríos allowed two runs on six hits with six strikeouts in the Blue Jays’ win over the Rays on Opening Day, while Eflin allowed six earned runs on six hits in 5 2/3 innings. 

While the Orioles boast one of the best lineups in baseball, they could be without one of their key stars, as Gunnar Henderson could miss Opening Day due to an intercostal strain. He hasn’t played in a spring training game since the end of February due to the injury.

Henderson has said that he’s planning on being ready for Opening Day, but whether he’ll be ready remains to be seen. But even if Henderson doesn’t play, Baltimore’s lineup is still full of boppers, so Berríos will have his work cut out for him. 

But, luckily for Berríos, the Blue Jays’ lineup looks dangerous after a busy offseason of improvement. 

While the rest of the rotation has yet to be settled, Schenider said that Kevin Gausman will get the ball in the second game of the series.