At 21 years old, Jose Berrios has quickly ascended in the Twins minor league system.
After starting the season at Double-A Chattanooga, Berrios quickly moved up to Triple-A Rochester but the young righty didn’t get the call to the Majors during September call-ups.
So instead of helping the Twins push for an American League wild card spot, Berrios finds himself as one of the top right-handed pitching prospects in all of baseball.
Berrios finished 14-5 in the minors with a 2.87 earned run average, while recording 175 strikeouts in 166 innings. He was one of two Twins prospects named to the 2015 Baseball America’s Minor League All-Star Team.
ESPN Insider calls Berrios’ inclusion on a list of the game’s top right handers a surprise. But after his season it would be hard not to put him near the top of it.
“Berrios is a surprise inclusion on this list, but not because of his talent. It is a surprise because most expected him to be pitching for the Twins right now. Instead of planning for a possible September call-up in August, Minnesota let him blow through nearly 170 innings in the minors. This leaves one of the Twins’ top five pitchers on the sideline while they contend for a playoff spot.”
At 5-11, Berrios isn’t the typical size for a top pitching prospect. But ESPN notes that he’s proven to be durable. They figure Berrios is a middle-of-the-rotation or better option for the Twins moving forward.
He is currently the Twins No. 2 prospect, behind only Byron Buxton.
.@BerniePleskoff's one word to describe @Twins' Jose Berrios? Focused. Scouting report: http://t.co/6zLBsegBKL pic.twitter.com/x0kBDLuSGX
— MLB Pipeline (@MLBPipeline) September 10, 2015
The Twins selected Berrios with the 32nd overall pick in the 2012 Draft out of Papa Juan XXIII High School in Puerto Rico.
The interesting story about Berrios, according to MLB.com blogger Bernie Pleskoff, is that he only began pitching the January before he was drafted.
Until then he primarily played shortstop or second base on his father’s traveling team, since his high school didn’t have a baseball team.
