Berrios And Friends To Take Field For Charity

Last month on social media, Berrios sent out a challenge to fellow young Puerto Ricans Francisco Lindor and Javier Baez. The two young future stars accepted the challenge. On December 12^th and 13^th, there will be clinics for teenagers between 14 and 16 years old. On December 19^th and 20^th, there will be a series of games.

According to Berrios, "The idea came out during a training session with my staff, brainstorming about what can we do to help keep teenagers away from the streets."

Cleveland shortstop Francisco Lindor recently finished second in American League Rookie of the Year voting (behind fellow Puerto Rican Carlos Correa). He has a tremendous combination of great defense and offense.

Javier Baez debuted with the Cubs in 2014 and came up late in the 2015 season again. When Addison Russell was hurt in the playoffs, Baez was thrown into the spotlight and into the lineup.

Berrios said the trio has been close for a long time. “We played Little League since (we were) 5 to 6 years old. We are friends. We are family.”

Berrios feels that it is important to use his celebrity to help others is important. He takes his role as a role model seriously, as seriously as his offseason workouts. He wanted to do something to help others.

“Not only being role models, but we want to be able to help those in need.”

Berrios set up a Go Fund Me account today and hopes to generate $30,000 for Fundacion Lake Makina. Asked what his foundation would use any raised money for, he said there were three things at this time.

“The money will be distributed as follows: 1.) Hogar Foriadores de Esperanza, 2.) The Spina Bifida Association, and 3.) the Luis Rodriguez Olmo family. Luis was a famous catcher. He is now diagnosed with Alzheimer’s and his family has made public their financial situation in order to take care of him. We want to help them. And any special case we understand needs help, we will do our best.”

The Hogar Foriadores de Esperanza is “a homeless kids home” in Bayamon.

Spina Bifida I the most common permanently disabling birth defect in the United States. It happens when a baby is in the womb and the spinal column does not close all the way. Every day, about eight babies born in the United States have Spina Bifida or a similar birth defect of the brain and spine. It is a defect that is very personal to Javier Baez. In April, his 21-year-old sister Noely, passed away from Spina Bifida.

Twins fans are very excited to see Berrios reach the big leagues. Most fans wanted to see him late in the 2015 season, but they will have to wait until 2016. Berrios said, “2016 will be my year.”

But it is impressive that a 21-year-old with so much in front of him is willing to take a step back in an effort to help those less fortunate.

“I’m praying to God to be able to help more kids through the years. That is one of my fuels to keep pushing the game. In the future, (I want to) do something in Minnesota too, with my teammates,” Berrios continued, “In addition to pursuing a World Series championship.”

Again, if you are interested and able to contribute, you can go to the Go Fund Me account here.