June 11, 201412 yr Jason Parks - prospect guru at BP - tweeted that he was headed down to watch Berrios pitch tonight.
June 12, 201412 yr And here are those observations... Chris King @StatsKing · 18hLooking back at my chart for Berrios, it's crazy how he locates down and to both sides with all pitches. Rarely finds the heart of the plate Chris King @StatsKing · 19hSano just sat down in front of me. Any messages you guys want me to pass on to him? Chris King @StatsKing · 19hBerrios though 6. This kid is pounding the zone low with almost every pitch. FB sat 92-94 in the 6th topping out at 95 with life. #Twins Chris King @StatsKing · 19hBerrios is through 5. Labored a bit in the 5th but was able to work around a lead off walk unharmed. Velo holding fine. #Twins Chris King @StatsKing · 20hMost impressive thing so far from Berrios is he can miss bats with 3 pitches and command the hell out if them. #Twins Chris King @StatsKing · 20hBerrios' first mistake of the night gets taken over the RF wall by Maxx Tissenbaum. Left a FB up over the plate #Twins #Rays Chris King @StatsKing · 20hBerrios going right after guys. Sequencing is very strong. Using the SL against LH off the FB. Throwing all his pitches for strikes #Twins Chris King @StatsKing · 20hBerrios breezed through the 2nd in order. Broke out both breaking balls. 79 12/6 CB followed by 84 power breaking ball. #Twins Chris King @StatsKing · 21hBerrios 93-96; life; top 97; moving up and down in and out; painting; 12 pitches 10 strikes; 10 fastballs 2 hard CB's
June 13, 201412 yr Thanks for sharing, always extra good to see a neutral party come away impressed. I hope Berrios is promoted after their all star break.
June 13, 201412 yr Chris King @StatsKing · 20hMost impressive thing so far from Berrios is he can miss bats with 3 pitches and command the hell out if them. #Twins This makes me drool. If he can continue to develop that, we have an ace on our hands.
June 13, 201412 yr It's starting to look like Berrios is one of those rare character guys who won't be deterred by obstacles such as the fact that 6'0" pitchers aren't supposed to be that bloody good. Everything about that kid just screams "professional" and I'm saying that as one of the bigger Berrios skeptics around. I haven't read a single bad thing about the kid, his attitude, or his work ethic.
June 13, 201412 yr Not to stray too far from my usual pessimist/realist ways, but... If Berrios is this good, could he be fast-tracked? He just turned 20... a midseason promotion to AA and a decent showing there would at least put him in line for an MLB spring training invite in 2015, right? Where he could, in theory, pitch his way onto the roster (a la Jose Fernandez 2013) or at least impress enough that his AAA stay is relatively brief. Maybe the Liriano path would be more realistic: 3/4 of this season at high-A, 1/4 at AA, and next year split evenly between AA and AAA with an MLB call-up at age 21. He may be short... but he is taller than me. Okay, I will return to my pessimism now. (But the Twins are due for a healthy phenom, aren't they?)
June 13, 201412 yr It's helpful that he has good command, because that makes it easier to throw innings without racking up high pitch counts (which obviously the Twins won't let him do). I think it's very possible he could debut next year.
June 14, 201412 yr He may be short... but he is taller than me. This was nothing close to my mental image of you spycake. Learn something new everyday!
June 14, 201412 yr It's starting to look like Berrios is one of those rare character guys who won't be deterred by obstacles such as the fact that 6'0" pitchers aren't supposed to be that bloody good. Everything about that kid just screams "professional" and I'm saying that as one of the bigger Berrios skeptics around. I haven't read a single bad thing about the kid, his attitude, or his work ethic. The one negative that came through from last year was the too-frequent histrionic displays when things weren't gong well. I haven't heard about that at all this year- maybe a sign of increasing emotional maturity that will go very well with the physical maturity that now has his FB touching 98 MPH .
June 14, 201412 yr The team seemed to have a pretty damn good 6' pitcher last decade. He too could miss bats with three pitches.
June 15, 201412 yr I like JO quite a bit. I actually spoke briefly to him in Cedar Rapids last year. I made an off-the-wall prediction that he would pitch in the big leagues before his 21st birthday. I don't know about that, but he has a chance to be pretty good pretty soon.
June 18, 201412 yr Outstanding night again for Berrios: 7 IP 1H 0 ER 9K 2BB Kid is dealing at the moment
June 18, 201412 yr Outstanding night again for Berrios: 7 IP 1H 0 ER 9K 2BB Kid is dealing at the moment You could call it dealing, or you could call it being utterly dominant.
June 18, 201412 yr Wow! I haven't seen him but he's had an amazing run, and only just 20 g2 weeks ago). His line reads as though he's 28 pitching against 19 year olds. Last 10 games has a 1.56 ERA and only 1 game with more than 2 earned runs and that was 3. I know there's a "normal" progression, but how dominant must he be before they ratchet up the competition with a promotion?
June 18, 201412 yr The front office can't justify keeping him in Ft Myers much longer if he keeps this up.
June 18, 201412 yr I really want to see him at AA the second half, let him force the Twins hand to fast track him. If that happens there maybe only 2 years of Ricky Nola which I regretfully look forward too.
June 18, 201412 yr His bullets are being wasted in A-ball, that's for sure. When a pitcher is demonstrating precise command of three plus pitches, he can succeed at any level of competition, even the highest. Look at Jose Fernandez, who was called up at about the same age Berrios is now. He had the same level of success with the Marlins as he did in the low minors.
June 18, 201412 yr The front office can't justify keeping him in Ft Myers much longer if he keeps this up. I opened up this thread pretty much to make this exact point. Time to see what the kid can do in the Eastern League.
June 18, 201412 yr What he's doing at this age is unprecedented. Baxendale dominated last year in a smaller sample size, but he is also about four years older than Berrios. Baxendale also had a lower K/9 while also allowing a lot less hits per 9, indicating that he was also getting pretty lucky. Berrios has nothing to prove in the FSL at this point. He should be in AA and hopefully the majors soon. Someone mentioned Jose Fernandez above; the Blue Jays promoted him directly from high A after less starts in the FSL than Berrios has now, and at the same age. They've put up similar stats, though Fernandez had also been much more dominant at Low A ball earlier that year than Berrios was last year.
June 18, 201412 yr Someone else mentioned that the Twins want him to pitch in the FSL first half playoffs. I would guess that as soon as the playoffs are done, he will be promoted. It's silly to keep him down, especially since a rotation spot just opened up in AA with Gilmartin being promoted.
June 18, 201412 yr Not exactly. The Miracle need a win today to win the first half. Berrios won't pitch today, so he has done all he can to help his current club win the first half.
June 18, 201412 yr Someone else mentioned that the Twins want him to pitch in the FSL first half playoffs. I would guess that as soon as the playoffs are done, he will be promoted. It's silly to keep him down, especially since a rotation spot just opened up in AA with Gilmartin being promoted. Just to clarify, there aren't actually "first half playoffs." Teams can qualify for the postseason by finishing first or second in the first half standings, but the postseason games themselves aren't played until September.
June 20, 201412 yr No breakdown. Just...I love this kid. Never read a bad word. Only heard about athleticism, work ethic, willingness to learn and bulldog attitude. Dont have to rush him. No need. But he might be one of those kids who just forces the issue. There is no reason, at his age and experience, to rush him to AA. But he will probably just buy his own bus ticket.
June 20, 201412 yr "There is no reason, at his age and experience, to rush him to AA." Maybe true, but more importantly, given his record there is no reason to keep him where he is.
June 20, 201412 yr There is no reason not to promote him, other than some rigid belief about age. The Twins promoted Stewart to low A, making him the youngest pitcher in the league. They then promoted Thorpe to low A and he's 13 months younger than Stewart. I don't think the Twins worry about age quite as much as we think they do.
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