Jose Berrios To Break Spring Training In Twins Rotation?
If he has his way, that is exactly what he is hoping to do. The Minnesota Twins talented young right-hander Jose Berrios has made no mistake about letting those around the game know that he intends to start 2015 in the starting rotation for the Minnesota Twins.
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Just a year removed from starting the Future’s Game at Target Field, and being promoted from Single-A to Double-A, Jose Berrios is looking to make another big leap to start 2015. After tearing up Fort Myers and the Florida State League to the tune of a 1.96 ERA and 10.2 K/9 ratio, Berrios moved on to Double-A New Britain.
Despite not having the same level of success in Double-A, Berrios was still more good than bad an ended the season with a 3.54 ERA across eight Double-A starts. His K/9 ratio took a hit, falling to 6.2. Berrios did also get three innings of action for Triple-A Rochester in a spot start, however that outing did not go well.
Regardless, it still seems that Jose Berrios believes his minor league career should be over.
Jose Berrios just told me he will add a two-seamer to his arsenal in 2015 and that his No. 1 goal is to start Opening Day with the #MNTwins.
— Ash Marshall (@AMarshallSport) December 9, 2014
While it may be hard to argue against him, Berrios is just 20 years old, still planning on adding a 2-seamer to his arsenal, and has a couple of things he could use some fine tuning on. That being said, the door is well within his reach, and Berrios is doing his part to know on it.
For the Twins however, it will likely be Terry Ryan waiting on the other side, and deciding whether or not that door should open. At this point, I have a hard time believing that Ryan will see it that way. Knowing that the Twins have made a habit of slow playing the promotion of their prospects, and looking at the most glaring example, Alex Meyer; I find it hard to believe Berrios will start with Minnesota in 2015.
I remember during All-Star Fan Fest Jack Morris stated that if a prospect isn’t promoted by 24 or 25, you normally fear you don’t have too much promise there. The comment stuck with me, because whether or not Jack wanted to back away from it later, Alex Meyer is 24 years old and will be 25 in January.
Meyer has been deemed to have a ceiling of an ace, and was the return for the Twins sending Denard Span to the Washington Nationals. There has been little talk of Meyer cracking the starting rotation to open 2015, and the Twins failed to get his feet wet at all at the major league level in 2014. Whether or not Meyer reaches the potential he has been deemed, the realization won’t happen until he is given some length to the leash the Twins currently have him on.
I love to see the fight and determination that Jose Berrios has displayed in the past calendar year. He appears to be well beyond his years in maturity and work ethic, here’s to hoping he’s competing at an All-Star level for the Twins in the not so distant future.