From the start to an untimely finish, the 2025 season was an exercise in frustration for Jose Berrios.

So what’s next for the Blue Jays starter as he works to fight his way back into what could be a markedly different Blue Jays rotation come next March?

“I am in the fifth week (of throwing) already,” Berrios said during an appearance on the MLB Network on Tuesday, in which he shared his first extensive comments since he left the team during the World Series.

“I am trying to get back to that mound in spring training.”

The right hander’s reputation as one of the most durable starters in the majors came screeching to a halt on Sept. 25, when he was placed on the injured list with right elbow inflammation.

The first injury absence of his career was not easy for the personable Puerto Rican and his conspicuous absence from the team during the Fall Classic was been a hot topic among Blue Jays fans.

How bad was the injury?

“I was battling all year long with my elbow, my bicep,” Berrios said of the ailment. “But the way my team was competing out there, I was trying to stay out there and go out and compete every five days with them.

“But then late in the season, I couldn’t hold it any more, that feeling I had in my arm. So I just put my hands up.”

After an MRI detailed minimal damage, Berrios dove into his off-season work to recover and be ready for 2026.

“It was bicep tendon inflammation. We attacked that real quick and that’s why I didn’t pitch in the playoffs,” said Berrios, who signed a seven-year, $131-million US extension with the Jays in 2021.

Appearing on MLB Network to discuss his La Makina Foundation charity softball event in Puerto Rico last week, Berrios was not asked about his absence from the Jays during the World Series.

World Series absence a talking point

Initially, Toronto GM Ross Atkins said that Berrios had to be with his family but, at last week’s Winter Meetings in Orlando, acknowledged that the pitcher indeed was disgruntled.

“He was not happy,” Atkins said. “He was disappointed that he wasn’t in our rotation.

“It’s always tough when someone of his pedigree is not in the rotation. Sure, he was not excited with that decision. And having to be the one that makes (the call not to have him on the World Series roster), it makes it very difficult.”

If that decision did indeed not sit well with Berrios, the 31-year-old seems determined to move on from it. Already throwing, he intends to be ready to pitch at the outset of training camp with an eye on representing Puerto Rico at the World Baseball Classic in March.

“I have that in my mind,” Berrios said. “I want to pitch in the WBC again. That’s my goal right now. First of all, to get to spring training healthy and strong and then would love to get ready for the WBC.

“It’s proud for us to play for our country and for our island.”

That pride is front and centre with Berrios through his La Makina Foundation, which supports the dreams of kids from his homeland through sports, education and health.

“I remember when I was that young, dreaming of trying to be where I am right now, living my dream,” Berrios told MLB Network. “For me, it’s a privilege. I have been blessed with what I do and I I want to give them the same privilege and opportunity I have right now.”

How does Berrios earn his way back?

In some ways, it will be one of the most important seasons in Berrios’ career given the struggles that dogged him throughout 2025, ending with a 4.17 ERA over his 166 innings of work.

Berrios has prided himself in his durability and being a prominent and reliable member of the rotation, traits that earned him the opening day start in 2025.

Now he enters a season facing the biggest challenge of his Toronto tenure having to forge a prominent spot in a rotation that has added Dylan Cease and Cody Ponce to a group that already included Kevin Gausman, Shane Bieber and last season’s rookie sensation, Trey Yesavage.

Atkins implied that the relationship the front office has with Berrios is back on track after the frustration of October.

“You always are (trying to repair),” Atkins said of the delicate conversations required after some roster decisions. “We’re never going to have a situation where we have 40 players or even 26 players who are feeling great about the opportunity they are given, even when you go to the last game of the World Series.”

For his part, Berrios sounds like he’s moved on from his own frustration and disappointment

“It was an unbelievable year,” Berrios said of 2025. “The guys gave 100% every day out there. It was fun. I enjoyed it all year long.”