Jays starter Berrios struggling with his command

Steve Phillips

TSN Baseball Insider

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Baseball is a funny game. 

When I was a general manager in Major League Baseball, I learned that I could never assume anything. 

During any given season, there were certainly some pleasant surprises where players exceeded my expectations. I loved those moments. 

Some players perform to the level that I expected. I needed that. As a GM, I craved predictability. I wanted the players to perform as I expected. It made planning so much easier.

On occasion, there were players who significantly underperformed expectations. Those are the ones that give general managers white hair – or at least they gave it to me. 

General managers are humans, and we ride a wave of emotions just like fans do. We just never talk about it publicly. When my players struggled unexpectedly, I would feel anger toward them. I once heard someone say, “Expectations are preconceived resentments.” I completely get it.  Once I created an expectation, it was a setup to potentially be disappointed. How dare the player not live up to my expectations?

When players struggle, they are more upset than I or any fan could be. Players hate failure. They take it to heart and desperately want to change boos to cheers. It did no good for me to share my frustration. Instead, I spewed confidence and optimism. I sought answers on behalf of the players through coaches, trainers, strength coaches, mental health coaches, etc. I wanted to always make sure the organization was giving the players every bit of support to overcome the struggle. 

Watching Toronto Blue Jays starter Jose Berrios this year has been painful. 

I don’t feel anger because he isn’t my struggling pitcher. But I’m sure Blue Jays general manager Ross Atkins has had his moments this season. I do, however, feel Berrios’ pain. He cares. The two-time All-Star is feeling like he’s disappointing everyone with his 5.86 ERA and 5-4 record after being acquired by the Jays from the Minnesota Twins last July.

On Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers, Berrios allowed eight runs on eight hits in a 10-3 loss. About a week earlier, the right-hander gave up nine hits and six runs over four innings of work in an 8-7 loss to the Chicago White Sox.

The first way to solve the problem is to identify the problem.

Berrios’ biggest problem is lack of command. That is different than poor control. The 28-year-old is throwing strikes, but he’s not throwing the ball within the strike zone where he intends the pitch to go. 

There is a reason why teams use analytics in guiding them on how to attack batters. Each pitch’s location sets up the type and quality of the next pitch. The idea is to throw the ball in a location where the player isn’t expecting. Throw it to the catcher’s glove. When a pitcher misses his location, the ball is headed where the batter is often looking, and damage gets done. This has been Berrios’ season. 

Berrios’ delivery looks very rotational, instead of linear. Of course, there is some rotation as a pitcher’s front foot hits the ground, but generally the arm moves in a more linear fashion once the rotation happens. Berrios appears to be cutting across his pitches just a bit, which is moving the ball off its intended path. 

The other adjustment Berrios needs to make is pitch inside more. He needs to throw his fastball inside off the plate for a ball. He needs to make hitters feel uncomfortable. I’m talking about a pitch that is under the hitter’s front arm in his stance which stands him up tall to avoid the ball. Or a pitch just off the front kneecap of the hitter that forces him to move his feet uncomfortably in the batter’s box.

Opposing hitters are digging in and just looking to unload on his pitches. He is around the plate so much, throwing 67.4 per cent of his pitches for strikes, that hitters never fear wildness. Believe it or not, Berrios needs to throw fewer strikes.

Time to prep Moreno to be starting catcher

When Jays prospect Gabriel Moreno was promoted to the major leagues after Danny Jansen broke a bone in his hand, I wrote that I liked the move – as long as he played regularly. 

The 22-year-old Venezuelan has played in 11 of the 18 games so far. He has started nine games, one as the DH and eight as a catcher. Overall, that’s not setting Moreno back in his development. Just being around major-league players is allowing the rookie to soak up knowledge that will help him in the future. 

However, when Jansen comes back from his injury in early July, I would send Moreno back to the minors. I want him to play every day and apply what he has learned at the big-league level.

It’s in the Jays’ best interest to have him preparing to be the starting catcher if there is an injury or a trade that clears his path. He will be back later in the season as there are always opportunities to go with a three-catcher unit at any time that includes Moreno.  

Remember, the Jays’ depth at catcher may come into play at the trade deadline. There are very few catchers in the game that also produce offensively. The Jays have three of them that are highly coveted. That may be what creates an opening for Moreno to return after his time with the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons. 

Twins pitching coach bolting for LSU a wake-up call for majors?

The Minnesota Twins are having a surprisingly good season, sitting atop the American league Central. I didn’t think they had a chance to be this good in 2022 because I didn’t think they had the pitching talent. But their pitchers have been very good, and a ton of the credit should go to their pitching coach Wes Johnson. Or should I say, their former pitching coach. 

Johnson informed the Twins over the weekend that he has made the decision to leave the team and become the pitching coach at Louisiana State University. LSU is willing to pay Johnson $750,000 to be their pitching coach. He was making about $300,000 with the Twins. 

The Twins hired Johnson out of the University of Arkansas, where he had coached the pitchers. At the time, Johnson had indicated that money, as well as having more family time, were the reasons for his move to MLB. College coaches work on a year-round basis because they spend a lot of their time off the field working the recruiting process. 

But now the money factor has become the bigger issue. Who among us wouldn’t leave a job for another that more than doubled our pay? There is no judgment from me on this one. At least not of Johnson. 

The thing I don’t understand, however, is why are major-league coaches being paid so poorly. In the latest collective bargaining agreement, the minimum salary for players increased to $700,000 per season. Why are major-league coaches not worth what a rookie player is worth? It just doesn’t make any sense. 

Hopefully, major-league clubs will start to realize that if they are losing the best-of-the-best to college baseball, they may not be valuing their instructors properly. It should be a wake-up call. 

I won’t be surprised if the Twins pitching staff collapses very soon, which will lead to them falling out of first place. A disruption like this can be catastrophic for a team.