Way to go, Berrios.

[Doomtints]

Great game.

[Pardon My Dinger]

Yup.

[TheLeviathan]

Thank goodness saner heads prevailed and we saw him and not Nick Tepesch today.

[gunnarthor]

Really nice outing. Couldn't have asked for more. Very excited to have him up here.

[adorduan]

Really nice outing.  68% strikes.  

[Bark's Lounge]

If all breaks right, he makes this team a lot better. It was a joy to watch him today, especially when he got locked in after the 3rd inning.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

I didn't get a chance to watch, but the one and only strikeout video on the MLB.com recap was on a pitch way outside that for some reason the batter took a swing.

 

How'd he look otherwise? Judging by the bits I caught from Dazzle Dan and the box score he hit his spots.

[yarnivek1972]

I didn't get a chance to watch, but the one and only strikeout video on the MLB.com recap was on a pitch way outside that for some reason the batter took a swing.

 

How'd he look otherwise? Judging by the bits I caught from Dazzle Dan and the box score he hit his spots.

Go figure. I thought MLB hitters wouldn't swing at bad pitches like they do in AAA. I seem to recall some here saying that.

[Doomtints]

 

Go figure. I thought MLB hitters wouldn't swing at bad pitches like they do in AAA. I seem to recall some here saying that.

 

The snark is strong with this one.

[DocBauer]

Ever have that one Christmas present that you save to open last because it's something special that you really, really wanted and you are just sure that one box had to be it? And then you open it...and you were right...and your holiday is complete.

 

That's how I feel right now.

[gunnarthor]

 

I didn't get a chance to watch, but the one and only strikeout video on the MLB.com recap was on a pitch way outside that for some reason the batter took a swing.

How'd he look otherwise? Judging by the bits I caught from Dazzle Dan and the box score he hit his spots.

They didn't chase many bad pitches. He had a lot of strikes in the zone - both swinging and called. There really isn't anything to complain about in this start. He was fantastic.

[theBOMisthebomb]

Let's go, J.O.

[Darius]

Great for Berrios, and his confidence, but also great for the confidence of the whole clubhouse.

 

Seeing a potentially high-end starter like Berrios come in and shut down one of the best lineups in the game today has be a game changer for some of these guys. It can go from "Wow, this is a cute little run, and sure is fun while it's lasts," to "We can sustain this thing and go take one of these playoff spots."

 

They'd never admit it. But, If I'm thinking that from the outside looking in, some of those guys have to be thinking it.

[Monkeypaws]

This was the first time I watched him pitch an MLB game and just trust his stuff - no nibblenuts, just putting it in there and letting them whack it if they could. Most of what they could square up was handled by the D.

 

Very encouraging result vs. a good team.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

I didn't get a chance to watch, but the one and only strikeout video on the MLB.com recap was on a pitch way outside that for some reason the batter took a swing.

 

How'd he look otherwise? Judging by the bits I caught from Dazzle Dan and the box score he hit his spots.

Never mind, the recap has a better indication

 

http://mlb.mlb.com/r/video?content_id=1384053583

[drjim]

Thank goodness saner heads prevailed and we saw him and not Nick Tepesch today.

Kind of amazing it was even a conversation.

[Old Twins Cap]

It was like pulling teeth to get the Twins Front Office to give Berrios this shot at starting, despite his AAA 1.19 ERA and all the rest of his dominating stats.

 

Not to mention how out of options the Twins Front Office is in terms of starting pitching.

 

Reality check:  Are you guys over-thinking things just a little?

 

Berrios is the top pitching prospect in AAA, and you had to think about whether to bring him up or not?

[curt1965]

It's just one outing, but he was magnificent! Not bad for a #3 or #4 starter!!

[Monkeypaws]

So maybe the waiver wire guy that everybody freaked out about, Wilkes-Booth or whatever his name was, was just to replace Berrios?

[TheLeviathan]

 

Kind of amazing it was even a conversation.

 

Right.  Let's hope this continues so there isn't any desire to go back and revisit it.

[Han Joelo]

Berrios was awesome, ergo the front office handled this just right!

[goulik]

I didn't get a chance to watch, but the one and only strikeout video on the MLB.com recap was on a pitch way outside that for some reason the batter took a swing.

How'd he look otherwise? Judging by the bits I caught from Dazzle Dan and the box score he hit his spots.

In many ways Berrios was everything we have hoped for with good control and confidence in his stuff

Except

In the third inning with a runner on third he suddenly seemed to be overthrowing. He uncorked a wild pitch and the runner scored. He continued to be wild the rest of the at bat and walked the next batter as well. He got the next guy to fly out ending the inning and from that point on he was very much in control.

[Halsey Hall]

FO just saved Jose for this team.  Great job by him today, I'm happy for the kid. 

[Taildragger8791]

Berrio se was a monster out there and had amazing stuff. Even the loose squirrel running around the infield didn't faze him.

 

I will say that this doesn't mean the front office was incompetent and waited way too long to call him up. It's just as likely that the extra month in AAA cured what ails. So let's avoid the cheap shots and just enjoy that for one day it looks like we have a promising young pitcher who's finding their footing.

[rukavina]

A lot of ifs here, but if Berrios pitches to a sub-4 era, buxton continues to get better and the rest of the starters don't turn into pumpkins, I would expect the Twins to be buyers (a reliever, most likely) and compete in this division with Cleveland.

 

[drivlikejehu]

Obviously a great outing, but I wonder why he didn't throw more change-ups. It's a great looking pitch.

[USAFChief]

I thought his command was shaky to start, but he got better and better as the game went on.

 

Pretty dang exciting, if you ask me.

[jimbo92107]

The key moment in the game was in the 3rd inning, right after Berrios yanked a fastball past Castro with a man on 3rd base. Runner scores, and then Berrios walks the next guy with some increasingly wild looking pitches. Last season that was the signal that he was about to implode. This time, he got himself under control, then worked his way out of the inning, leaving the Twins behind by just one run. 

 

Behind by one, the Twins were able to rally back in the 4th inning with 3 big runs. That allowed Berrios to walk to the mound in the bottom of the 4th with a 2-run lead, whereupon he started pitching with more confidence. He didn't need a shutout, just limit the damage. That's when I think Berrios realized he could win this game. He started showing some dazzling stuff in the middle innings. This kid really has a live arm. His heater has lots of movement, and his curve bends every bit as much as Duffey's, tho Berrios doesn't have Duffey's dizzying variety of benders...yet. 

 

JO Berrios looks like he's going to be a very, very good pitcher. 

[Carneal&Gordon]

Seriously, how great was that performance by Berrios? I was anxious with his first start being against such a good team but he dominated and gave the bullpen a bit of a rest.

 

Kudos to Kintzler as well, this is fun!

[AlwaysinModeration]

The kid is 22 years old. I am looking forward to him being locked into the starting rotation for the Twins for many, many years.