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Jose Berrios

AL Central Notes: Sano, Berrios, Salazar, Fulmer

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Twins third baseman Miguel Sano’s MRI on his right elbow came back clean today, tweets Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press. The 23-year-old slugger has been playing through some soreness in his elbow that has impacted his throwing in recent weeks, he revealed over the weekend, but the issue appears to be minor in nature. Sano told reporters that the elbow is feeling better today, and he’ll have the opportunity to rest it with an off-day in the schedule. Sano has struggled tremendously at third base since opening the year in right field and then being shifted back to the hot corner, but his bat has come to life lately. Over his past 18 games, Sano is hitting .297/.368/.622 with six home runs.

More from the AL Central…

  • Fellow top young Twins talent Jose Berrios is receiving plenty of organizational attention as he struggles to complete his transition to the game’s highest level, as Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer-Press reports. Even Hall-of-Famer and current TV analyst Bert Blyleven has chipped in as the team looks to get Berrios on track. Though he has long shown ample polish in the minors, the 22-year-old has uncharacteristically permitted 14 walks in his 28 big league frames, coughing up 29 earned runs on 39 hits — including seven long balls. On the positive side, he is still getting plenty of swings and misses with thirty punch-outs. Among the issues being explored are fastball command and tipping of offspeed pitches, per the report. Minnesota is relying heavily upon the development of players like Berrios, Sano, and Byron Buxton, and their current record reflects the uneven recent path of those hyped youngsters (among other players).
  • The Indians plan for right-hander Danny Salazar to come off the disabled list on Thursday to start against the White Sox, manager Terry Francona told reporters, including MLB.com’s Jordan Bastian. Cleveland placed Salazar on the disabled list back on Aug. 2 due to inflammation in his right elbow, but the issues appears to have been minor in nature, as an Aug. 18 activation would represent a very minimal DL stint. Salazar has thrown all of his pitches to test his elbow and feels ready to get back onto a big league mound, though the Indians will be cautious with him. Francona and pitching coach Mickey Callaway said Salazar won’t be cleared to throw 100 pitches right out of the gate. Rather, he could be piggybacked, to some extent, with right-hander Mike Clevinger, who will move to the bullpen upon Salazar’s return.
  • Even as the Tigers continue to push hard for a post-season berth, the club faces tough impending questions on rising young righty Michael Fulmer. As Lynn Henning of the Detroit News writes, the organization still hasn’t decided precisely how to manage his workload with both the present and future in mind. The 23-year-old has exceeded even the most optimistic expectations in his rookie campaign, spinning 120 innings of 2.25 ERA pitching. But with his minor league frames included, he is already moving past his previous single-season high of 124 2/3 total innings pitched. Though manager Brad Ausmus notes that Fulmer doesn’t tend to run high pitch counts and isn’t throwing many high-stress frames, it appears that several skipped starts will be required to keep him on the bump down the stretch — and that’s all before considering a potential playoff berth.

Twins Promote Jose Berrios, Place Gibson And Santana On DL

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6:04pm: The Twins have made Berrios’ promotion official. As MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger tweets, Berrios will start against the Indians tomorrow night. The Twins also promoted Polanco, as expected, and placed starters Kyle Gibson (shoulder strain) and Santana (back strain) on the DL. The Twins believe Gibson’s injury took place during his last start and seem hopeful that it won’t turn out to be serious, via Neal.

“We’re not dealing with anything overly significant that’s going to require any type of procedure,” says manager Paul Molitor. “We’re just going to have to calm that thing down the best we can and try to get his strength back so he can pitch.”

1:25pm: Santana is indeed likely to be placed on the disabled list tomorrow, writes La Velle E. Neal III of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. However, Neal notes that the Twins are also recalling infielder (and fellow Top 100 prospect) Jorge Polanco from Rochester for a second time this season, so there’s another roster move in the works for the club as well.

12:26pm: The Twins will promote top pitching prospect Jose Berrios, Twins blogger Ted Schwerzler reports on Twitter. Berrios, 21, entered the year rated as a consensus top-100 prospect leaguewide.

A product of Puerto Rico, Berrios has steadily risen up the prospect rankings over the last several years and is now viewed as one of the best pre-MLB arms in the game. Entering the current season, he rated 16th overall on MLB.com’s list, 26th in the eyes of ESPN.com’s Keith Law, and 28th per Baseball America.

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Many clamored for a call-up late last year, as Minnesota made a late (and ultimately unsuccessful) run at the postseason. But the organization ultimately decided to hold off on the move, preferring instead to allow him to finish the season at Triple-A.

It’s safe to say that Berrios has proven all that he needs to at the highest level of the minors. In his 16 starts for Rochester, he owns a 2.82 ERA with 10.0 K/9 against 2.4 BB/9 — and that’s including the bombing he suffered in his lone outing at the level in 2014. Berrios has continued to allow less than one base hit per inning, as he’s done rather consistently throughout his minor league career. Though he has allowed a few more walks than usual in his first three starts in 2016, Berrios has permitted only two earned runs in 17 frames in the early going.

Those results reflect the general scouting perspective on the youngster, who’ll turn 22 in late May. He’s considered an excellent athlete with a well-rounded three-pitch mix — the classic blend of a four-seam fastball, curve, and change. Though none of his offerings are expected to be truly exceptional, all are quality options, and he’s said to have the command, makeup, and feel to come with a number two or three starter’s ceiling.

For Minnesota, the move points to an effort to provide a fresh boost to a club that stumbled out of the gate. Ervin Santana’s injury situation could open a rotation spot for the time being, but in the long run the Twins could conceivably drop Kyle Gibson or the out-of-options Tommy Milone. It’s notable that Berrios worked up to 166 1/3 innings over 27 starts last year, suggesting that he ought to be ready to shoulder a more or less full workload this season. By going to Berrios now, Minnesota can receive nearly thirty starts without allowing him to clock a full year of service time.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

AL Central Notes: Johnson, Berrios, Floyd, Indians

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White Sox right-hander Erik Johnson’s resurgent season at Triple-A has placed the former top prospect firmly on the map for a rotation spot in 2016, GM Rick Hahn tells Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune. After a 6.73 ERA in 105 2/3 innings at Triple-A last season, Johnson has turned in a 2.37 mark over 132 2/3 frames with 9.2 K/9 and 2.8 BB/9. As Kane writes, Johnson will be working in relief initially, but he’s likely to make some starts later this month in what could be a preview for the 2016 season.

Here’s more from the AL Central…

  • The Twins will not call up top pitching prospect Jose Berrios this season, GM Terry Ryan told reporters, including MLB.com’s Rhett Bollinger. The 21-year-old’s innings total is a concern to the Twins, Ryan explained, especially considering the fact that Berrios is of slighter frame than many pitchers. Berrios ranks as one of the game’s best prospects, including No. 23 on MLB.com’s Top 100, No. 7 per Fangraphs’ Kiley McDaniel, No. 21 per ESPN’s Keith Law and No. 19 per Baseball America.
  • The Indians activated right-hander Gavin Floyd from the DL when rosters expanded in September, and manager Terry Francona told reporters, including MLB.com’s Jamie Ross, that Floyd is healthy enough to work out of the bullpen in the season’s final month. Francona said the Indians, however, owe it to Floyd to be careful with his surgically repaired right elbow because “he’s got more career ahead of him.” Floyd signed a one-year, $4MM contract this winter and re-fractured the olecranon bone in his right elbow in Spring Training — an injury that was initially believed to have ended his season. He made his Indians debut today, though, and fired a perfect inning from the ’pen.
  • Cleveland.com’s Zack Meisel looks at some of departing Indians president Mark Shapiro’s comments from his press conference announcing his move to Toronto. Meisel breaks down Shapiro’s response to his biggest challenge with Cleveland — Shapiro diplomatically hinted at payroll constraints while noting that market size can’t be used as an excuse for lack of results — as well as Shapiro’s comments on the Michael Bourn/Nick Swisher signings.

Central Notes: Arrieta, Berrios, Kirby

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Jake Arrieta’s no-hitter stands out as one of the best performances of the season, and the right-hander’s overall dominant campaign has positioned him as one of the front-runners for the NL Cy Young Award. A season this excellent — Arrieta is 17-6 with a 2.11 ERA, 9.3 K/9 and 2.2 BB/9 in 183 innings — makes for a lucrative arbitration raise, but his raise could be steeper than most assume. As MLBTR’s Tim Dierkes tweets, our arbitration projection model currently has Arrieta jumping to $9.9MM in 2016 — nearly triple his current $3.625MM salary. The Cubs control Arrieta through the 2017 season.

Here’s more on Arrieta and the game’s Central divisions…

  • The trade that sent Arrieta and Pedro Strop to Chicago in exchange for Scott Feldman and Steve Clevenger has been brought up a great deal since the no-hitter, but Mark Brown of Camden Chat argues that Arrieta was unlikely to ever succeed with the Orioles. Arrieta was 27 at the time he was traded and had shown great raw talent with poor results for the better part of four seasons. Arrieta gave the Orioles little reason to ever believe he’d turn around, having posted a 5.46 ERA in 358 innings through the age of 27.
  • Though he wasn’t among the Twins’ first wave of September callups, top prospect Jose Berrios is still under consideration to join the team later this month, writes the St. Paul Pioneer Press’ Mike Berardino. “I don’t think we have finalized everything we’re going to do here,” said manager Paul Molitor. “Going forward, his name is definitely still being talked about.” GM Terry Ryan admitted that the upcoming November roster crunch is “a piece” of the consideration, as Berrios doesn’t have to be added to the 40-man roster this offseason as he’s not yet Rule 5 eligible. However, Ryan also notes that the Twins already added Byron Buxton to the 40-man despite the fact that he also didn’t need to be protected from the Rule 5 Draft. Berardino runs down a number of Twins prospects that may need to be protected on the 40-man this winter.
  • The Brewers announced today that left-hander Nathan Kirby, the team’s supplemental round pick from the most recent draft, underwent Tommy John surgery (h/t: Tom Haudricourt of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel, on Twitter). The Virginia product slipped from a potential Top 5-10 pick to the Comp Balance round after his stock dropped due to a lat strain. Kirby tossed just 12 2/3 innings with Milwaukee’s Class-A affiliate before being sidelined, and he could very well be lost for the entirety of the 2016 season now.

AL Central Links: Indians, Avila, Berrios

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The Indians have a lot of offseason work ahead of them, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer writes, particularly when it comes to upgrading the team’s lineup.  The Tribe could use help at several spots around the diamond, and Hoynes intriguingly wonders how much the club could be counting on from Carlos Santana in 2016.  Santana entered today hitting .222/.355/.381 with 12 homers and a league-leading 74 walks over 439 plate appearances — still above-average offensive numbers (109 wRC+), though the power dropoff has to be a concern for Cleveland.  The Tribe wasn’t interested in dealing him before the deadline and since Santana is owed only $8.25MM in 2016 (plus a $12MM club option for 2017 with a $1.2MM buyout), I’d think he’s enough of a cost-effective asset that it makes more sense for the offense-starved Indians to keep him.  Here’s some more from around the AL Central…

  • Also from Hoynes’ piece, he doubts the Indians will make any big moves in free agency given how little return they got from Nick Swisher and Michael Bourn, the Tribe’s last two major steps into the open market.
  • Alex Avila’s pending free agency creates even more of an awkward position for both he and the Tigers now that his father Al is the team’s general manager, Fangraphs’ David Laurila writes.  “No one doubts the professionalism of either Avila,” Laurila notes, though the catcher’s concussion history, lack of hitting and James McCann’s emergence hurts his case to return to Detroit.  Though retirement isn’t necessarily in the cards for the younger Avila anytime soon, Laurila notes that Alex has been tabbed by many as a potential future manager or front office member once he calls it a career.
  • In other Detroit front office news, Laurila also noted Sam Menzin’s promotion to the Tigers’ director of baseball operations and calls Menzin “a future GM.”
  • Jose Berrios is performing well in Triple-A and, with the Twins’ rotation struggling, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press suggests that Minnesota could turn to its top pitching prospect.  Twins assistant GM Rob Antony didn’t give any hints about a promotion, though he did praise Berrios and noted that the organization had no plans to shut the righty down as he approaches his career high in innings.  The Twins picked Berrios 32nd overall in the 2012 draft, and he ranked highly in preseason prospect lists from MLB.com (32nd) and Baseball America (36th), as well as a bump up to 19th on BA’s midseason top 50 prospects list.

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