February 19, 20179 yr http://www.twincities.com/2017/02/19/minnesota-twins-pitcher-jose-berrios-can-feel-his-command-improving/ Jose Berrios says that he can feel his fastball command improving. It's something he focused on throughout the offseason and it's a focus of spring training with Neil Allen so far. He's also preparing to pitch for Puerto Rico in the WBC. The article also includes notes about Jason Castro's study work with the pitchers. Mason Melotakis update. Good to see Brian Navarreto and AJ Murray get pulled over from minor league side to catch some bullpens.
February 19, 20179 yr As inane as that story was, God it's great to have baseball to talk about again! I hope Berrios is improving his command. The rotation competition will be much more interesting if he's hitting his spots.
February 20, 20179 yr Dear God, Please let Berrios's "this is the best control that I've ever had" not become the yearly equivalent of Mauer's "this is the best shape I've ever been in" Thanks in advance, D.C Twins
February 20, 20179 yr Not sure what to make of the "i feel my fastball improving" quote or the "At one point during Sunday’s first round of live batting practice, Twins right-hander Jose Berrios knocked the bat right out of Byung Ho Park’s hands." What does that mean? Pretty cryptic if you ask me. My opinion.....this kid is not ready for the bigs yet. At 22 years old why are they rushing him when we have a full rotation already (not saying it's a good rotation). Let him pitch another 50 or 60 innings at AAA and then re-evaluate. We have Adalberto Mejía and Tyler Duffey available as well in case Santiago, Gibson or Hughes really falters. Edited February 20, 20179 yr by laloesch
February 20, 20179 yr Dear God, Please let Berrios's "this is the best control that I've ever had" not become the yearly equivalent of Mauer's "this is the best shape I've ever been in" Thanks in advance, D.C Twins Has Mauer come out with that quote yet this year? If he has, I missed it!
February 20, 20179 yr Jose Berrios says that he can feel his fastball command improving. It's something he focused on throughout the offseason and it's a focus of spring training with Neil Allen so far.This is why I refuse to ever underestimate Jose Berrios. The kid has shown time and time again that he's going to put in the work to be a success. Every report I've ever read on the kid suggests he's slightly manic when it comes to preparation.
February 20, 20179 yr It's not like Berrios would say his command is still terrible. But yes I agree it's good to read some baseball stories again.
February 20, 20179 yr Could a better pitching mind than mine help me understand what Berardino meant when he said Berrios is "working hard to maintain a shorter arm path on all deliveries"? Is he talking about how his arm was visible to the batter from behind his body last year? Will this shorter arm path impact velocity? Just curiosities. I'm confident that Berrios will be much improved.
February 20, 20179 yr This is why I refuse to ever underestimate Jose Berrios. The kid has shown time and time again that he's going to put in the work to be a success. Every report I've ever read on the kid suggests he's slightly manic when it comes to preparation.This! But not only this, has has previously demonstrated the ability to learn and make adjustments at every level he has reached. The stuff, the work ethic and feel for the game is all there, IMO. I also think part of his problem last season was simply trying too hard. He seems to be so determined that I wonder if it gets in how way. Edited February 20, 20179 yr by DocBauer
February 20, 20179 yr Could a better pitching mind than mine help me understand what Berardino meant when he said Berrios is "working hard to maintain a shorter arm path on all deliveries"? Is he talking about how his arm was visible to the batter from behind his body last year? Will this shorter arm path impact velocity? Just curiosities. I'm confident that Berrios will be much improved.I'm sure Parker can and has done better, but I found this https://youtu.be/Zu7v_xnaf7c not sure if this is to solve his "tell", or to reduce the stress on his elbow and reduce movement on the ball. Edited February 20, 20179 yr by Sconnie
February 20, 20179 yr Not sure what to make of the "i feel my fastball improving" quote or the "At one point during Sunday’s first round of live batting practice, Twins right-hander Jose Berrios knocked the bat right out of Byung Ho Park’s hands." What does that mean? Pretty cryptic if you ask me. My opinion.....this kid is not ready for the bigs yet. At 22 years old why are they rushing him when we have a full rotation already (not saying it's a good rotation). Let him pitch another 50 or 60 innings at AAA and then re-evaluate. We have Adalberto Mejía and Tyler Duffey available as well in case Santiago, Gibson or Hughes really falters. disagree, he's one pitch away from ending his career. he shouldn't waste them in AAA when as Brock pointed out that he has the fortitude and physical ability to be a Major League pitcher and "just" needs to hone his pitches at the highest level for a while to get it right. Nothing prepares you for the bigs completely, except playing in the bigs, especially pitchers. The Twins lost 103 games last year, they can afford to let the guy figure it out, and need him to figure it out to right the ship.
February 20, 20179 yr disagree, he's one pitch away from ending his career. he shouldn't waste them in AAA when as Brock pointed out that he has the fortitude and physical ability to be a Major League pitcher and "just" needs to hone his pitches at the highest level for a while to get it right. Nothing prepares you for the bigs completely, except playing in the bigs, especially pitchers. The Twins lost 103 games last year, they can afford to let the guy figure it out, and need him to figure it out to right the ship. Agreed that Berrios should be logging big league innings. If he falls flat on his face like 2016 then slow his career arc and send him back to AAA to reevaluate.
February 20, 20179 yr His control could be better, but he was also tipping his pitches in his arm path last year. It goes behind his back and allows hitters to see his grip. I'd guess this is probably a bigger issue out of the windup than the stretch, sure enough hitters OPS'd almost a 100 points more with bases empty (usually you'd expect hitters to be better with runners on). If he can gain a bit more control, that will really help, but he also has got to get that arm path problem fixed. No pitcher can get away with tipping their pitches.
February 20, 20179 yr Author This is why I refuse to ever underestimate Jose Berrios. The kid has shown time and time again that he's going to put in the work to be a success. Every report I've ever read on the kid suggests he's slightly manic when it comes to preparation. I agree with all of this... I'd also say that so much of his work is filmed. A lot of the minor league guys work out similarly hard in the offseason without posting it. Which is why I really like the plan of every pitcher working fastball command so much. They'll work at it, and hopefully that focus will work for many of them.
February 20, 20179 yr Mauer commented on how great he feels to Sid yesterday on the Sports Huddle on 830 AM. He also mentioned that he felt great before last year's spring training. Mauer said it several times since Sid asked the same question several times. Edited February 20, 20179 yr by strumdatjaguar
February 21, 20179 yr His control could be better, but he was also tipping his pitches in his arm path last year. It goes behind his back and allows hitters to see his grip. I'd guess this is probably a bigger issue out of the windup than the stretch, sure enough hitters OPS'd almost a 100 points more with bases empty (usually you'd expect hitters to be better with runners on). If he can gain a bit more control, that will really help, but he also has got to get that arm path problem fixed. No pitcher can get away with tipping their pitches.Many pitchers have this motion including Doc Gooden. Didn't seem to hurt his results. Berrios problem stem from lack of command. Nobody is going to succeed at the big league level going 2-0 on every hitter.
February 22, 20179 yr Many pitchers have this motion including Doc Gooden. Didn't seem to hurt his results. Berrios problem stem from lack of command. Nobody is going to succeed at the big league level going 2-0 on every hitter.I think Parker made a very compelling case for it in this article, check it out for yourself... http://twinsdaily.com/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins/jose-berrios-is-tipping-his-pitches-r5099
February 22, 20179 yr Berrios "hung" a lot of his fastballs to the arm side last year when his body got in front of his arm. A shorter arm path could help. But sometimes its psychological (nerves) that cause a guy to rush through his windup. Injury or fatigue is another possibility.I just hope the Twins aren't overcoaching him. He didn't walk many before he reached the majors.
February 22, 20179 yr This is a story about Berrios and his command. It has nothing to do with any position players. No need to use this thread to yet again slam Mauer. Edited February 22, 20179 yr by jimmer
February 22, 20179 yr I think Parker made a very compelling case for it in this article, check it out for yourself... http://twinsdaily.com/_/minnesota-twins-news/minnesota-twins/jose-berrios-is-tipping-his-pitches-r5099Yep read it when it came out. Command is is problem.
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