Article: J.O. 2.0: Will Adjustments Pay Off For Berrios?

[theJemmer]

Read somewhere that his velocity was in the 92-93 range recently. Assuming this is to get ahead and he still has some in the tank to finish guys off.

[KirbyDome89]

My question is how long is the leash? If he has a "Mejia-like," start in one of his first couple outings is he going to get the chance to right the ship or are we going to watch another young pitcher be sent down after 3 starts?  

[Steve Lein]

 

Read somewhere that his velocity was in the 92-93 range recently. Assuming this is to get ahead and he still has some in the tank to finish guys off.

 

I think we'd be hearing a lot more about that if that was the case.

 

But I do think it is down a little, but still mid-to-high 90's most of the time.  From my observations he hasn't been the type that was always throwing around the same MPH number with his fastball. Was like 94-101 with it in one of his games I saw in person.

 

When everything's in sync mechanically, he'll light up the gun. If he's off a little some gets taken off. So I wouldn't be surprised if that span is something like 92-99 now.

[bird]

 

I'm really excited to see how a guy like Castro can help Berrios. Not just with pitch framing but keeping him settled and calm. I wish his first start wasn't against Cleveland, though. That's a pretty good team.

 

 

Yeah, I think it's important to remember that last year when they pulled the plug on him up here, his head was spinning and his breaking ball was not so much. He probably suffered as much from his lack of poise as he did from his lack of polish. Let's hope he will settle in this time.

[Dave The Dastardly]

Patience, Grasshopper! That's advice for Molitor more so than Berrios. At this point there's nothing more for Berrios to learn in AAA so don't even think about sending him back down if he struggles early on. Let him know he has the season to prove himself, not just a couple of starts.

[Vanimal46]

Welcome back Berrios! Looking forward to watching him pitch again under the bright lights.

[akmanak]

IMO alot is riding on Berrios. If he can pitch well the Twins would fill a huge hole. This would propel the Twins to being a pretender and vault them to being a contender.

[Willihammer]

Berrios is too talented not to succeed. This is going to be fun to a boon for the rotation.

[bluechipper]

 

I think we'd be hearing a lot more about that if that was the case.

 

But I do think it is down a little, but still mid-to-high 90's most of the time.  From my observations he hasn't been the type that was always throwing around the same MPH number with his fastball. Was like 94-101 with it in one of his games I saw in person.

 

When everything's in sync mechanically, he'll light up the gun. If he's off a little some gets taken off. So I wouldn't be surprised if that span is something like 92-99 now.

You saw Berrios throw 101?? That must have been the same radar gun that used to be at Kauffman Stadium.

[Mike Sixel]

I'm liking him just fine this year as a legit 4, trending to 3. He won't be an ACE, imo, or even a consistent 2, but he'll be good. 

[birddog]

So excited to see Jose coming up. Agree with the fact that he needs to be up for the duration of the season. He got behind hitters last year and way too many full counts to allow him to go 6 innings-- much less 7 or 8. I hope he accepts the fact that week grounders count just as much as Ks. Use Santana and Hughes as examples to pound the zone and get ahead of hitters to widen the strike zone. If it works for Hughes, it will certainly work for Berrios with his better stuff.

 

He knows he is not coming up to be a savior for the team like many expected last year. Just be a #4 who will give us 6+ quality innings with three runs or fewer and let our offense win him some games. If, for some reason he is not the starter we hoped for this year, put him in the bullpen and let him learn at the MLB level to get the confidence he needs. Hopefully we will never have to read about him at AAA ever again, unless it's a rehab assignment when he's 35 recovering from a sprained ankle.

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

You saw Berrios throw 101?? That must have been the same radar gun that used to be at Kauffman Stadium.

I think there was a side discussion of Nick Burdi going on here... unfortunately with a lot of pronouns in place of proper names!

[Steve Lein]

 

You saw Berrios throw 101?? That must have been the same radar gun that used to be at Kauffman Stadium.

 

Wow, I think I got my threads mixed up. I was referring to Burdi here...

[snap4birds]

"Across the two turns he got 44 called strikes against just 14 swinging.

That's not a guy who is getting outs by nibbling around the edges or inducing chases out of the zone."

 

This statement seems kind of backward to me...wouldn't a hitter be more likely to take a strike if it was borderline?

 

The next line might back up your argument better:  

"He's succeeding by throwing it over the plate, early in counts..."

 

That makes more sense to me, a hitter is more likely to take an early strike....  

Or maybe he has good, late movement that is fooling the hitters, I would think that would lead to more 'looking' strikes.  That would also bode well for his success at the major league level.  So I think that is the best case scenario for his ratio of looking/swinging strike percentage.

[Monkeypaws]

I'd be happy if the season ended with Buxton as a .250 hitter, and Berrios with an ERA below 4.5

 

Rome wasn't built in a day.

[AlwaysinModeration]

I'd be happy if the season ended with Buxton as a .250 hitter, and Berrios with an ERA below 4.5

 

Rome wasn't built in a day.

"Like"

[Otto von Ballpark]

 

I'd be happy if the season ended with Buxton as a .250 hitter, and Berrios with an ERA below 4.5

 

Rome wasn't built in a day.

For me, I'll be happy with the right components (Buxton driving the ball, showing patience, limiting K's, and Berrios limiting walks/HRs and maximizing K's).

 

Of course, if they do those things, they will probably hit those modest AVG/ERA targets anyway.  Buxton would only have to hit ~.266 the rest of the way to finish at .250.  And a 4.50 ERA may only be a 90 ERA+ in the current offensive environment.

[Monkeypaws]

 

Happy? I'd be thrilled. 

 

Let's call it a lesson in moderating our expectations, and patience.

Edited May 12, 2017 by Monkeypaws

[jimmer]

 

Let's call it a lesson in moderating our expectations, and patience.

The Twins have steadily been lowering our expectations (what we consider acceptable)for years.  

[tarheeltwinsfan]

 

Given how people talk about Gimenez and how he handles a pitching staff, he should make that list as well.

Agreed.

[Monkeypaws]

 

The Twins have steadily been lowering our expectations (what we consider acceptable)for years.  

I dunno, first place in May kind of exceeds my expectations, by a lot actually. So has the mainly sharp fundamental baseball.

[jimbo92107]

Let us all agree to forgive him if he tries, but fails. Berrios... Hey, I just realized, that sounds like a breakfast cereal! So much healthier than Cheerios, now with extra berries for more energy! The heck with Wheaties, so long Cheerios, I'm having a crunchy bowl of Berrios for breakfast!

[jimbo92107]

 

I dunno, first place in May kind of exceeds my expectations, by a lot actually. So has the mainly sharp fundamental baseball.

I know exactly what you mean. Last season these guys looked pretty rough in the field. Buxton was crashing into walls, Sano was dropping pop-ups, Kepler booted a few, and Eddie ended the season firing outfield throws into the stands. By comparison, this year they look like a good group of fielders. 

[Danchat]

 

Let us all agree to forgive him if he tries, but fails. Berrios... Hey, I just realized, that sounds like a breakfast cereal! So much healthier than Cheerios, now with extra berries for more energy! The heck with Wheaties, so long Cheerios, I'm having a crunchy bowl of Berrios for breakfast!

If it was pronounced "Bear-ee-ohs", then we could have a cereal brand called "Berri O's!"

[ashbury]

If it was pronounced "Bear-ee-ohs", then we could have a cereal brand called "Berri O's!"

I eat a bowl of Chu-REE-ohs every morning, what's the problem?

[Woody Wants Wins]

I think everyone has already forgiven him for failing badly last year.  I hope he does well, but what is well.   Six innings, with a couple of runs.  Strikeouts are boring besides that they're fascist.  Let just keep winning.

[gil4]

 

Very good news for us all. Hopefully the lessons of the past month will carry over. And, honestly, I'm willing to give him the chance to struggle a bit more.

Me too, but if he pitches like he did today, that would be fine, too. 

[AlwaysinModeration]

Santana-Berrios-Santiago lined up for the first place battle with Cleveland this weekend. Sano served his suspension, Dozier is back in the lineup. Let's go Twins, win at least a pair this weekend.

Thanks for winning the series. Can we be greedy and ask for more?

[OldFartAtPlay]

A very nice game by Mr. Berrios. I was especially happy to see how he righted himself after wild pitching in the first run. And I am very happy to see him getting outs in any manner possible. Love one pitch popups! Did Terry Francona let that squirrel loose to try and rattle Jose?