Friday night was supposed to be the night the Blue Jays punched their ticket to the postseason. Instead, they are reeling after dropping three consecutive games, capped off by an ugly 20-1 beatdown at the hands of the Royals in Kansas City. And guess what, the collapse put a spotlight on everything that can go wrong for this team: the bats disappearing, the pitching falling apart, and the frustration boiling over. But this 20-1 beatdown surely has its own culprit.

Most of the blame lands squarely on the mound. Reportedly, Max Scherzer was tagged for seven runs before the bullpen piled on with another disastrous outing. And as expected, the fallout was swift. Manager John Schneider wasted no time making changes, shuffling the pitching staff and moving the veteran into the bullpen. Now, call it a demotion or a bullpen boost; either way, the shake-up is happening.

“He’s a professional. There’s a reason José Berríos is José Berríos. As uncomfortable as it is, I think he gets it. That’s kind of where we are right now,” Blue Jays insider Keegan Matheson cited the team manager.

Well, Berrios has been a starter since breaking into the MLB in 2016, but he hasn’t quite looked like himself lately. For the unversed, he’s sitting on a 4.06 ERA, and his most recent outing against the Rays wasn’t encouraging. He allowed three runs, zero SOs, and a noticeable dip in velocity from last season.

Hence, with top prospect Trey Yesavage joining the rotation Monday, the Blue Jays are shifting him to a long-relief role. On paper, it makes sense, especially since the bullpen just chewed up 7.1 innings today and is clearly running on fumes. The Jays desperately need dependable arms, and maybe Berrios can help fill that gap.

However, while this move eases the rotation logjam, it doesn’t exactly solve Toronto’s pitching puzzle. At best, it’s a stopgap, not a permanent fix.

The Blue Jays’ bullpen woes are far from over

If you think relocating Berrios to the bullpen would solve the Blue Jays’ problem, then you’re wrong. The problem lies deep, and it’s continuing since the All-Star break. Let’s get back to August 27, when the Blue Jays were playing the second game against the Twins.

Up 4-3 in the ninth, Toronto turned to Jeff Hoffman to lock down his 29th save of the year. Instead, it turned into a nightmare. Hoffman gave up four runs on three hits that flipped the game and gave the Twins their 60th of the season.

Well, to be fair, Hoffman bounced back in his last outing against the Rays, tossing a clean frame with two SOs. But consistency for the entire bullpen? Nowhere to be seen. Tyler Heineman, for example, was rocked for 13 runs in just 1.1 innings in this game against the Royals. So, that kind of collapse highlights the bigger problem of the bullpen falling apart.

Before the All-Star break, the Blue Jays’ relievers ranked eighth in MLB with a solid 3.57 ERA. Since then? A brutal 5.60 ERA heading into last month. So, put simply, what was once a strength has become a glaring weakness, and it’s dragging down the entire team.

Amid all this chaos, the moment of the Blue Jays clinching the divisional title is getting further delayed.