Jose Berrios gets opening day start for Blue Jays, Romano has setback

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The Blue Jays have their opening day starter in place, officially handing the assignment to right hander Jose Berrios on Tuesday.

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As for the rest of the pitching staff, health concerns continue to dog the team as it works its way through the final week of the pre-season.

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As well as announcing the Berrios call for next Thursday when the Jays face the Tampa Bay Rays in St. Petersburg, manager John Schneider informed reporters in Florida of setbacks to closer Jordan Romano and fellow reliever Erik Swanson.

According to the team, Romano has been dealing with some right elbow inflammation and, after an MRI revealed no serious damage, he’ll be treated with an anti-inflammatory injection. Schneider told reporters that Romano won’t be able to throw for three days and then begin to ramp up.

Barring a further setback, he could be ready for the season.

Swanson, meanwhile, has some right forearm tightness that will keep him out of action through much of this week.

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The Romano and Swanson issues pile on to the shoulder woes that shut down starters Alek Manoah and Kevin Gausman, delaying their respective starts to the pending season.

Berrios, meanwhile, will get the opening day assignment for the second time in three seasons, obviously looking for a much better outing than in 2022, when he was rocked and didn’t make it out of the first inning.

But after an impressive bounce-back 2023 and a strong showing in Florida this spring, Berrios seems like a different pitcher now, both in form and his confidence.

“Obviously (having success) came with that mindset of confidence,” Berrios said in an interview with the Toronto Sun earlier in spring training. “I was so locked in and believed in myself every time I went out there and pitched. Last year I was able to go throw quality pitches down in the zone and that worked for me.

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“Being able to go out there and execute brought me that confidence I have before. So now it’s to keep building on top of that and be better.

“When you feel like that, you feel like nobody can beat you. That’s what you want.”

The Jays likely wanted to have Gausman as their opening day starter, but when his shoulder tightness shut him down, it became apparent they would have to shift.

Berrios was always going to be the leading candidate, a task manager John Schneider made official when he told the personable Puerto Rican on Tuesday morning.

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