I adopted Jose (J.O.) Berrios. He is widely considered the Twin's # 5-7 prospect and among the top 2-3 of their pitching prospects. He was drafted 32nd overall in 2012 out of Bayamon, Puerto Rico. 2013 was his first full year above rookie ball and he pitched well after throwing up gaudy numbers in rookie ball. He will start this year at high A in Ft. Meyers. He will turn 20 in May.

 

I'm not going to be able to write up any quick recap of Berrios better than Aaaron Gleeman, so I'm going to put down his take (from www.aarongleeman.com) :

"5. Jose Berrios | Starter | DOB: 5/94 | Throws: Right | Draft: 2012-1

 

YEAR LV G GS ERA IP H HR SO BB

2012 RK- 8 1 1.08 16.2 7 0 27 3

RK+ 3 3 1.29 14.0 8 1 22 1

2013 A- 19 19 3.99 103.2 105 6 100 40

Selected out of a Puerto Rico high school 30 picks after Byron Buxton in the 2012 draft, Jose Berrios had a great rookie-ball debut and then made the jump to full-season competition last year at low Single-A. While his 3.99 ERA and .265 opponents' batting average were unimpressive, Berrios struck out 100 batters in 104 innings and allowed just six homers while being one of only eight teenagers in the Midwest League to log at least 100 innings.

Obviously it would be ideal to see Berrios overpowering hitters in the low minors, but missing plenty of bats and holding his own overall as a teenager is a very good sign. Berrios throws hard and receives praise for his off-speed stuff, but like most 19-year-olds his control needs work and one potential red flag is that he's been a fly-ball pitcher. That tendency usually gets more extreme further up the organizational ladder, so it'll be something to keep an eye on.

Berrios is a slight 6-foot-1 and so far the Twins have been cautious with his workload by limiting his starts in-season and convincing him to skip winter ball, but he'll likely be given a longer leash this year at high Single-A. He tends to get lost in the shuffle of what has become a stacked deck of Twins prospects, but in some recent years Berrios would have been the team's top pitching prospect and his long-term upside is substantial. "

 

Ft. Meyers starts their season tomorrow. I'll write up news as it happens and post recaps of his starts.

Edited April 2, 201412 yr by SouthDakotaTwinsFan

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I adopted Jose (J.O.) Berrios. He is widely considered the Twin's # 5-7 prospect and among the top 2-3 of their pitching prospects. He was drafted 32nd overall in 2012 out of Bayamon, Puerto Rico. 2013 was his first full year above rookie ball and he pitched well after throwing up gaudy numbers in rookie ball. He will start this year at high A in Ft. Meyers. He will turn 20 in May.

 

I'm not going to be able to write up any quick recap of Berrios better than Aaaron Gleeman, so I'm going to put down his take (from www.aarongleeman.com) :

"5. Jose Berrios | Starter | DOB: 5/94 | Throws: Right | Draft: 2012-1

 

YEAR LV G GS ERA IP H HR SO BB

2012 RK- 8 1 1.08 16.2 7 0 27 3

RK+ 3 3 1.29 14.0 8 1 22 1

2013 A- 19 19 3.99 103.2 105 6 100 40

Selected out of a Puerto Rico high school 30 picks after Byron Buxton in the 2012 draft, Jose Berrios had a great rookie-ball debut and then made the jump to full-season competition last year at low Single-A. While his 3.99 ERA and .265 opponents' batting average were unimpressive, Berrios struck out 100 batters in 104 innings and allowed just six homers while being one of only eight teenagers in the Midwest League to log at least 100 innings.

Obviously it would be ideal to see Berrios overpowering hitters in the low minors, but missing plenty of bats and holding his own overall as a teenager is a very good sign. Berrios throws hard and receives praise for his off-speed stuff, but like most 19-year-olds his control needs work and one potential red flag is that he's been a fly-ball pitcher. That tendency usually gets more extreme further up the organizational ladder, so it'll be something to keep an eye on.

Berrios is a slight 6-foot-1 and so far the Twins have been cautious with his workload by limiting his starts in-season and convincing him to skip winter ball, but he'll likely be given a longer leash this year at high Single-A. He tends to get lost in the shuffle of what has become a stacked deck of Twins prospects, but in some recent years Berrios would have been the team's top pitching prospect and his long-term upside is substantial. "

 

Ft. Meyers starts their season tomorrow. I'll write up news as it happens and post recaps of his starts.

 

I heard rumblings that Berrios may have grown, is that the 6'1 versus 6'0 or has he grown taller than that?

I'm afraid I can't answer that. I'll do some digging.

I'm afraid I can't answer that. I'll do some digging.

 

 

One of the spring training posts, maybe Thrylos went down there and he said he is 6'0 and Berrios looked much taller than him. Something like that.

I'm stoked to see how this kid develops. I still remember the video they showed on draft day of him working out. Kid looks like an insane athlete.

If Berrios can hold his own as a 19 year old in the FSL he is going to be a top 30 prospect heading into next year.

Along with AB Walker, Berrios is the 'spec that I'll be watching most closely this year.

Berrios has some serious talent. Throws hard. Good control. Sharp breaking ball. Great athleticism. Works really hard. Wants to be great.

 

As for his size, he may be 6-0... no more than that (in my opinion from standing next to him).

Berrios had his first start of the year yesterday for Ft. Myers. 6.0 IP, 5 H, 2 R (both earned), 0 BB, 4K. From all accounts, it was a solid start.

 

Game story from the Ft. Myers News-Press is at

http://www.news-press.com/article/20140407/SPORTS/304070017/Jupiter-pitchers-dominate-Miracle

Berrios had his second start of the year for Ft. Myers yesterday. He went 6 innings, with 6 hits, 3 runs (all earned), 2 walks, 5 K's. In his 2 starts so far this year, he has a 3.75 ERA and 0.917 WHIP in 12 innings of work.

Berrios has had two starts since I last posted:

4/25- 6.0 ip, 8 h, 1r, 2bb, 7k,

5/1- 5.0 ip, 6h, 4r (3er), 2bb, 4k

 

On the season:

25.0 ip, 3.96 ERA, 11 earned runs, 7bb/20k, 7.2 SO/9, 1.52 WHIP, 0.341 BAbip, 2 HR allowed.

Berrios pitched 6.1 innings last night. 0 R, 4H, 8K, 2BB

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2014/may/13/minor-league-baseball-jose-berrios-pitches-past/

This kid is doing some VERY impressive things at high A ball for a 19 year old.

He was featured in BPro's "eyewitness accounts" series this morning. And it's free. FREE!

 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=23579

Last 5 starts:

 

0.89 WHIP (18H, 10BB)

0.86 ERA

31.1 IP

45 K

13 strike outs tonight, no walks and one hit in a complete game. Jeepers.

He was featured in BPro's "eyewitness accounts" series this morning. And it's free. FREE!

 

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/article.php?articleid=23579

 

Thanks for supplying the link.

Heckuva performance. He's one of the top pitchers in A+ despite being 3 years younger than the competition. Pretty cool. He could be up at AA sometime this year if this continues for a few more starts.

13 strike outs tonight, no walks and one hit in a complete game. Jeepers.

 

7 inning complete game.

 

Less impressive from an innings perspective, but more impressive from a K/9 perspective

Last 5 starts

 

31.1IP 18H/10BB/45K

 

 

Wow. Promotion to AA this summer.

 

Please

Berrios pitched a one hit complete came with 13 strikeouts yesterday. Zero walks, went to a three ball count just once.

http://www.news-press.com/story/sports/2014/06/01/miracle-jose-berrios-dominate-yankees/9852703/

 

On the season he is 5-2 with a 2.24 ERA. He's given up 2 HR. 65K/17BB. 10.4 K/9, 1.172 WHIP.

 

I hope to see him at double A this season.

My apologies for not updating more. I'll work on it.

Berrios pitched a one hit complete came with 13 strikeouts yesterday. Zero walks, went to a three ball count just once.

http://www.news-press.com/story/sports/2014/06/01/miracle-jose-berrios-dominate-yankees/9852703/

 

On the season he is 5-2 with a 2.24 ERA. He's given up 2 HR. 65K/17BB. 10.4 K/9, 1.172 WHIP.

 

I hope to see him at double A this season.

My apologies for not updating more. I'll work on it.

 

In July, if his ERA is sub 2.75 and is striking out guys at a clip of one an inning or more, I would bring him up. Not a huge rush though.

Remember how negative posters were when they drafted him?

Remember how negative posters were when they drafted him?

 

I don't remember that being the case at all. I know I liked the pick, and believe many others did as well.

Berrios pitched a one hit complete came with 13 strikeouts yesterday. Zero walks, went to a three ball count just once.

http://www.news-press.com/story/sports/2014/06/01/miracle-jose-berrios-dominate-yankees/9852703/

 

On the season he is 5-2 with a 2.24 ERA. He's given up 2 HR. 65K/17BB. 10.4 K/9, 1.172 WHIP.

 

I hope to see him at double A this season.

My apologies for not updating more. I'll work on it.

 

If he remains as dominating as his last start or close to it for several starts he'll have to get promoted. But I am not pushing the issue until the last month of the season. We have a lot of timeavailable for him to grow. There's no reason to push him. though if he goes to AA at the allstar break he may be in the competition for a rotation spot next spring. That's a fast track. I'll really be surprised if he beats Buxton to the bigs.

If he remains as dominating as his last start or close to it for several starts he'll have to get promoted. But I am not pushing the issue until the last month of the season. We have a lot of timeavailable for him to grow. There's no reason to push him. though if he goes to AA at the allstar break he may be in the competition for a rotation spot next spring. That's a fast track. I'll really be surprised if he beats Buxton to the bigs.

I figure he has at least 5 more A+ starts. If he's still killing it like this at the end of the month, he forces their hand.

Berrios pitched 8 innings last night. He gave up 3 runs (2 earned), on 8 hits with 9K's and no walks. This was the first outing he had in which he pitched more than seven innings. Sounded like some bad luck in the 8th, was cruising through seven.

 

http://www.cape-coral-daily-breeze.com/page/content.detail/id/539984/Tigers-edge-Miracle-4-3-in-11-innings.html?nav=5015

I think there were initial concerns, as he doesn't quite fit 'the picture' of today's 6'3+" 220+ thoroughbred pitchers.

 

I kinda figured he'd 'compete' his way up the ladder at a much slower pace. He seems to have that drive and humility but is a bit shorter and he is might not throw as hard as those aforementioned thoroughbreds.

 

But, he seems to have not only that moxy/compete (sometimes just become throwers) in him but can really pitch. Exciting to see. I'd agree with a previous poster, still would be surprised if he beat Buxton to the bigs. But it's becoming more of a coin toss now.

There are a lot guys pitching well in A+ right now and they are older than Berrios so my guess would be he isn't the first one moved to AA. Also last year as the innings pitched grew higher his ERA grew higher as well. If I had to guess I would say they keep him at high A this year and move him to AA next spring. He seems to have figured some things out as he is really pitching well and has been consistent all year so far. He looks like a good one. Let's hope he stays healthy.

Sometimes great things come in small packages. Guidry was 5'11", Santana 6', and Flash Gordon was only 5'9".

There are a lot guys pitching well in A+ right now and they are older than Berrios so my guess would be he isn't the first one moved to AA. Also last year as the innings pitched grew higher his ERA grew higher as well. If I had to guess I would say they keep him at high A this year and move him to AA next spring. He seems to have figured some things out as he is really pitching well and has been consistent all year so far. He looks like a good one. Let's hope he stays healthy.

 

I was going to say the same thing. He definitely fell off at the end of last year. I think leaving him at High A the rest of this year would be fine. Let him start clean in AA next year after resting for the offseason. There's no reason to rush him. If he lights up AA the way he's lit up High - A I look for a promotion to AAA mid 2015 and see him in the mix for a rotation spot in 2016.