José Berrios is still in limbo, and John Schneider is not ready to give the Blue Jays a final answer on the right-hander's elbow yet.
That was the tone after Schneider said the club has received an initial read from doctors on Berrios' MRI, but still wants a second opinion and more internal review before deciding the next step.
That matters because Toronto was not talking like a team with clean clarity. Schneider's wording pointed to caution, which is exactly what you would expect when an elbow issue forces a fresh round of imaging.
It is also a real change in mood from where this stood not long ago. MLB.com's Blue Jays injury tracker had Berrios on a near-term path after his latest rehab outing, but now lists his return as TBD.
That is the part fans should focus on. The MRI did not bring immediate closure. It brought another layer of evaluation, and that usually means the club is not comfortable rushing to any public conclusion.
Berrios has been on the injured list with a right elbow stress fracture since late March, so any hesitation around this scan lands hard for a rotation that has already spent weeks waiting on him.
The rehab start itself had already created some concern. MLB.com noted that Berrios allowed 7 earned runs over 3 2/3 innings in his latest outing for Triple-A Buffalo while showing decreased velocity.
-
Toronto still cannot map Jose Berrios back into the rotation
That is the biggest takeaway from Schneider's update. Until the Blue Jays finish their own review and get that second opinion, Berrios is not a pitcher they can realistically plug back into the big-league rotation plans.
And that affects the rest of the staff right away. If Berrios stays in holding pattern, Toronto keeps leaning on the arms already covering those innings instead of restoring one of its projected rotation anchors.
Schneider's comments also suggest this is not just routine paperwork after a scan. If the first read were enough on its own, there would be no need to stress a second opinion and more review from the Blue Jays' side. That is an inference, but it fits the caution in his wording.
None of that means the news is definitively bad. It means the Blue Jays are still sorting through what the MRI actually tells them before they speak with certainty.
For now, that leaves Berrios exactly where Toronto did not want him: still sidelined, still being evaluated, and still without a clear activation path.
So this update was important, but not because it settled anything. It did the opposite. The Blue Jays got an initial read on José Berrios' elbow, and they are still not ready to trust that as the final word.
Should the Blue Jays wait for full second-opinion clarity before planning José Berríos' next step?
Also read on Blue Jays Insider :
Blue Jays fans need to know about latest Rogers Centre schedule change
