Twins top pitching prospect Jose Berrios has registered a shiny 2.67 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, and 78/13 K/BB ratio in 70 2/3 innings (11 starts) since his promotion earlier this summer to Triple-A Rochester. He has nothing left to prove in the minors, and yet the Wild Card-chasing Twins decided not to include Berrios in their initial wave of September callups.
And it might not happen at all this year, per MLB.com beat reporter Rhett Bollinger ...Terry Ryan was non-committal on whether top pitching prospect Jose Berrios will be called up. But at this point, I’d be surprised if he is.
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) September 2, 2015
Twins manager Paul Molitor also spoke on this Tuesday, acknowledging that the club is worried about Berrios’ workload and wouldn’t want to mess with his development by pitching him in relief. That just shows a lack of foresight on the part of the Twins’ decision-makers, who could have called for Berrios to rest up in August.
Berrios pitched 139 2/3 innings in 2014 between High-A Fort Myers, Double-A New Britain, and Triple-A Rochester. The 21-year-old is at 161 1/3 innings this season between Double-A and Triple-A.
Would it endanger or enlighten Berrios’ career to give him a few starts in a postseason race?
