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  • BREAKING: Jose Berrios Named Twins Opening Day Starter

    Parker Hageman

    By Parker Hageman

    There may be three-and-a-half feet of snow covering Minnesota today, but the Twins hope to take the field in three weeks.

    And the man who will lead them onto the field will be none other than Jose Berrios.

    Image courtesy of Brad Rempel-USA TODAY Sports

    Twins Video

    Twins manager Rocco Baldellli said the team informed Berrios on Monday morning.

    "Truthfully, we were all very happy to give him that news," Baldelli said. "I also think he was very happy to hear it. He’s earned it. He’s a wonderful guy and I was happy to see him so excited."

    Baldelli revealed a little of the decision-making process, saying that he conferred with his coaching staff.

    "Our staff did spend some time talking about it. Just to make sure to hear different opinions," he said, "but in this instance there wasn’t a ton of discussions. Basically everybody was happy for him."

    Berrios, who will be 24 years old when the season starts, will be the Twins' youngest Opening Day starter since Brad Radke in 1997.

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    Nine of twelve

    Nine of twelve 7,163

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

     

    Congrats to him!

    He'll make a fine opening day opener. I hope he closes opening day too!

    That would be great, but it would take a very good and unlikely set of circumstances to actually occur. With all the days off in the early season there's no reason to push a starter much beyond 80-90 pitches.

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    sampleSizeOfOne

    sampleSizeOfOne 13,517

  • Old-Timey Member

    • Posted

    That would be great, but it would take a very good and unlikely set of circumstances to actually occur. With all the days off in the early season there's no reason to push a starter much beyond 80-90 pitches.

    True. Unlikely, but not impossible. While i shall try not to let said hope distort my perspective, i still will hope all the more for it.

     

    Here's to Berrios throwing 81 straight strikes!

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    Tomj14

    Tomj14 1,146

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

     

    That would be great, but it would take a very good and unlikely set of circumstances to actually occur. With all the days off in the early season there's no reason to push a starter much beyond 80-90 pitches.

    Unless it is a close game and he is still pitching really well.

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    bighat

    bighat 7,885

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    He would've got the call last year, but he wanted to pitch in the Puerto Rico series - I think everyone understood that. Didn't Odorizzi end up pitching on Opening Day?

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    Doctor Wu

    Doctor Wu 761

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    I'm not sure this qualifies as some sort of breaking news ... or even important news. Not to make light of the team's decision. Obviously, Berrios deserves to be named the opening game starter. Kudos to the kid. But what was the purpose of announcing this decision the first week in March? What's the urgency? I'm baffled. The only thing I can figure is that the team wants to make sure that Berrios knows that he's important to them, and ... ahem ... maybe we can get that contract extension settled this month while we're at it. Otherwise, not really a surprising or earth-shaking announcement.

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    Old Twins Cap

    Old Twins Cap 1,915

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Looking out my window at 30" of snow on the ground.

     

    No real break in temps through March 18th.

     

    So, it is possible that Target Field is somehow playable that week, but the rest of the Midwest is going to be buried in snow.

     

    Not sure why they think scheduling a March opener in Minneapolis is such a great idea.

     

    Hey!  We can organize a ski to Target Field that day. Brilliant!

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    Doomtints

    Doomtints 2,816

  • Verified Member

    • Posted (edited)

    TF is designed to be playable in the snow and ice, but it's smarter to play elsewhere for as long as possible to start the season so as to maximize home field revenue. Just because they can play doesn't mean fans will show up.

     

    It is what it is. The MLB makes an effort to have midwestern teams play elsewhere to start the season, but it doesn't work out for every team every year.

    Edited by Doomtints
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    Nine of twelve

    Nine of twelve 7,163

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

     

    Not sure why they think scheduling a March opener in Minneapolis is such a great idea.

     

    Here's what I have read from various sources at various times:

    1. The most recent CBA calls for more days off during the course of the season. This necessitated the earliest opening day ever.

    2. The presence of the NCAA men's basketball Final Four in Minneapolis means the Twins need to be away during the second, third and fourth series of the season.

    2a. MLB knows it's not fair to have a team open with four straight road series.

    3. It's not fair to have warm weather teams open at home every year.

    4. No other MLB stadium is better equipped than Target Field to handle cold weather games.

     

    That still doesn't necessarily make it a great idea, but that's why it is going to happen.

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    jkcarew

    jkcarew 3,876

  • Verified Member

    • Posted

    Yeah...there's a very good chance the weather will be such that we'd rather not have Berrios (or anyone that figures prominently...or anyone, period) pitching. After the opening series, the Twins don't come back until the 12th. It's hard to figure how sneaking those 3 games in front of that in March benefits anyone.

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    Otto von Ballpark

    Otto von Ballpark 20,320

  • Community Leader

    • Posted

    2. The presence of the NCAA men's basketball Final Four in Minneapolis means the Twins need to be away during the second, third and fourth series of the season.

     

    I don't quite understand this. A whole week? At best, the Twins might want to be out of town Saturday April 6 (semifinal night).

     

    Monday April 8 (final) is a Twins off day anyway.

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    USAFChief

    USAFChief 58,010

  • Community Moderator

    • Posted

     

    I don't quite understand this. A whole week? At best, the Twins might want to be out of town Saturday April 6 (semifinal night).

    Monday April 8 (final) is a Twins off day anyway.

    For one thing, I imagine Minneapolis guaranteed a certain amount of available hotel rooms for that week in order to get the Final Four.

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    Otto von Ballpark

    Otto von Ballpark 20,320

  • Community Leader

    • Posted

    For one thing, I imagine Minneapolis guaranteed a certain amount of available hotel rooms for that week in order to get the Final Four.

    How many hotel rooms usually get occupied during an early April MLB series in Minneapolis? Even if it was the home opener, I suspect most of those fans are local (and if fewer out of town fans came, local fans would buy those tickets instead).

     

    And for a whole week? The Final Four is Saturday and Monday. Even for the Super Bowl, I don't think Atlanta hotels filled up until a couple days before.

     

    I could see an argument for sending the Twins on road Thursday until Sunday, with Monday off, but I really don't see why they need to be on the road from the *previous* Tuesday through the *following* Thursday. (Not that any of those dates forecast appreciably different weather from March 28.)

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