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Jose Berrios of the Blue Jays

Veteran Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher received a concerning injury update regarding his elbow on Friday.

Berrios has not pitched at all this year for the Blue Jays, who enter this weekend’s series against the Los Angeles Angels with a 16-21 record. Berrios, who is dealing with an elbow injury, recently started for Triple-A Buffalo and had a rough start, allowing 7 ER in 3.2 IP, struggling with his velocity and command of pitches.

Jose Berrios Receives Concerning Injury Update

Blue Jays manager John Schneider spoke to reporters in Toronto on Friday and provided a medical update on Berrios. According to Schneider, an MRI showed inflammation in Berrios’ elbow as well as other small changes to his initial elbow injury, and he will be seeing another doctor next week.

“Jose Berrios is visiting specialist Dr. Keith Meister again on Tuesday. His MRI showed inflammation and ‘small changes to that initial injury with the elbow,’ said Blue Jays manager John Schneider. Another exam there is next step, he added,” Davidi wrote.

For Berrios, this is extremely disappointing news to hear, as he was hoping to get back to the majors in short order and help the Blue Jays out.

Up until last year, Berrios was the epitome of health, as he never missed a start in his career due to injury. But he faced some health issues late last year and didn’t pitch on the Blue Jays’ roster as they made a World Series run. The team was hoping to have him back at full health to start the year, but he missed the first month-plus of this season with an elbow injury, and now it appears he may miss even more time with this elbow ailment. Hopefully, Berrios receives good news next week, but right now, the player and the team are no doubt concerned about what they are seeing.

Other Blue Jays’ Players Returning to Health

Blue Jays third baseman/outfielder Addison Barger, who has been out since early April with an ankle injury, is very close to returning to the Blue Jays, per Schneider. He was rumored to be given the green light today, but he will likely be activated by the team from the IL tomorrow, instead. When Barger is activated, the Blue Jays have a difficult roster decision to make regarding who they send down to Buffalo to put Barger on their 26-man roster.

“Addison Barger is travelling today and will “most likely” be activated off the IL tomorrow, said manager John Schneider. Blue Jays wanted to give him a day to reset, envisioning busy workload for him once he returns,” Davidi wrote.

Starting catcher Alejandro Kirk, who has been out with a fractured thumb since early April, is starting to swing a bat, but he has not yet caught pitches. The hope is that he can return to the team by the end of this month. Nathan Lukes, who has been out with a hamstring injury for a few weeks, is also starting to get back on the right track as he’s starting to run. Finally, starter Max Scherzer had a cortisone shot as he looks to return from his own health issues.

“Additional Blue Jays injuries updates: Alejandro Kirk starts stars taking dry swings with a bat this weekend, continues throwing, yet to begin catching. Nathan Lukes has started to run. Max Scherzer had a cortisone shot in his forearm yesterday, no throwing for five days,” added Davidi.