Twins won't call up pitching prospect Jose Berrios this year
Sorry, Twins fans. For those of you anxiously awaiting the arrival of Twins' top pitching prospect Jose Berrios, you'll have to wait.
Twins general manager broke the news to reporters on Wednesday, saying it's best not to risk the 21-year-old's future.
"Once the season concludes, he's going to go home," Ryan said via MLB.com. "I've been thinking about this for a while since I came back from there. But we're going to send him home once the season concludes. He's had a fine year, and I don't want to risk him getting hurt. He's near the amount of innings we wanted him to get to, so we don't want to take any chances with him."
Berrios threw 139 2/3 innings last year and is already at 161 1/3 innings this year. He racked up 170 strikeouts and has a 2.90 ERA between Double-A Chattanooga and Triple-A Rochester. He will finish the season with about 165 innings, which is right in the realm of expectations from the Twins.
"We're all sensitive to the innings stuff," Ryan said. "And there's no question that's a factor. He's also about 5-foot-11, 187 pounds, so it's not like this is a 6-4, 200-pounder. So I'm a little concerned we don't do any damage when he's built up a good resume."
Ryan said he understands disappointment from fans who wanted to see Berrios with the big league club this season, but knows he made the right decision.
"A lot of people who follow this club are going to shake their heads and say, 'you're in a pennant chase.'" Ryan said. "And we are. But the right thing for the kid is to send him home. So that's the decision that was made today and was given to him. He's a respectful kid, and I'm sure he's not happy, but it's what we're going to do."
Berrios will finish out the year with Rochester and will also be shut down over the winter, as the Puerto Rico native won't participate in winter ball.
(h/t MLB.com)
