Minnesota Twins: Examining what is different about the 2017 Jose Berrios

Minnesota Twins pitcher Jose Berrios has seen considerable success in 2017. Here is a look at what exactly is different about Berrios and the possible cause for his success.

Ever since he was drafted, the Twins have been waiting for Jose Berrios to hit the majors. The expectation was that at worst he would be a solid rotation arm. The real hope was that he would be the ace the team has searched for since Johan Santana departed for New York. Berrios’ first taste of the majors did not fulfill any of those dreams.

As dreams were crushed, Berrios went 3-7 with an 8.02 ERA over 58.1 innings and 14 starts. That doesn’t exactly look like an ace. Instead that stat line causes pitchers to be cut from rotations and teams. Thankfully, Berrios in 2017 has breathed new life into those initial dreams.

So far in 2017, Berrios has gone 7-1 with a 2.67 ERA and has averaged 8.8 strikeouts per nine innings. Those numbers have allowed him to assist Ervin Santana in keeping this pitching staff afloat. It has also put him in rare company among young Twins’ pitchers:

Here's a fun one.

Twins' best ERA+ by a 23-year-old (min. 5 starts):
167 Jose Berrios, 2017
150 Johan Santana, 2002
142 Bert Blyleven, 1974
— Aaron Gleeman (@AaronGleeman) June 22, 2017

So how has Berrios done it? In all honesty we can only speculate from our vantage point , but there do seem to be some distinct differences between 2016 Berrios and 2017 Berrios besides results.

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There is a noted change in Berrios’ pitch selection. He continues to use his fastball at a consistent rate of 64%. It is in his secondary pitches where we begin to see a difference in his approach. His curveball usage has gone up from 21.6% to 28.3%. That puts him with the eighth highest curveball usage rate among pitchers who have pitched at least 50 innings in 2017.

With Berrios’ curveball up, his changeup usage has gone down. Last season he threw it 14.4% of the time, while this season he has cut it down to 7%. Those adjustments have bumped his swinging strike rate up to 10.4% from 8.2% last year. That rate isn’t major league leading or close to it, but does show significant improvement.

Matthew Trueblood over at Baseball Prospectus points to some adjustments in Berrios’ delivery from last season. Trueblood notes that Berrios’ arm angle is slightly lower than it was in 2016, and his position on the pitching rubber has moved further to the third base side. Trueblood also notes that Berrios’ curveball and fastball have both seen an increase in spin rate. The fastball’s spin rate more significantly, with an increase to 114 RPM.

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The success Berrios is having with these adjustments has fans wondering if there is still an outside chance that he could push for a spot on the 2017 American League All-Star team. The real hope is that these changes result in the long term success that cause his name to make the All-Star roster for several years to come. And just maybe, nationally, Jose Berrios and “ace” will be uttered in the same sentence.

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