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Well, that didn't take long. Just 21 games into the season, the Minnesota Twins are calling up their best pitching prospect, Jose Berrios. The good news is, according to his Facebook, he will be starting tomorrow. That means the Detroit Tigers avoid his first start when they begin their series with the Twins on Friday. The bad news is he is really good at pitching.
The Twins made a bit of curious decision not calling him up last year when they were in the thick of the playoff race and in need of pitching help. But with Berrios throwing a career-high 161 1/3 innings in the minors, the team had an eye on the future. The future is now.
Berrios is ranked as the fourth-best right handed pitching prospect by Jim Callis and MLB.com, led the minors with 175 strikeouts and had a tidy sub 3.00 ERA. He will immediately improve the Twins' rotation and will provide a stiff test for the Tigers when they inevitably face him. Pro tip: if you play fantasy baseball, go get him. Unfortunately, I play with Twins fans.
Speaking of Twins' propects
Byron Buxton isn't doing so hot and was sent back down to minor leagues after hitting .156/.208/.289 with 24 strikeouts in 49 plate appearances. Yikes.
Tigers things
It took considerable effort to find a story not referencing Tyler Collins flipping off Metro Detroit but here is a disjointed article from Ken Rosenthal that blames basically every aspect of the team for their 9-9 start. Michael Fulmer is a possibility if Shane Greene can't go. And James McCann and Daniel Norris continue their rehab.
Other AL Central notes
Miguel Gonzalez enters the rotation for the first time for the White Sox. Trevor Bauer will move back into the Indians' rotation after the injury to Carlos Carrasco, and David Murphy is headed for retirement.
Oh yeah, and the White Sox won a game like this on Monday:
Triple Plays are hilarious
There isn't a more demoralizing play in sports than a triple play. FanGraphs gets REAL in-depth with the frequency, type, and general comedy of triple plays.
Totally worth it
The bro who ran onto the field after Jake Arrieta's no hitter said it was worth every penny. Might need to raise the fine there. The money quote is his father stating "It took guts." Apple didn't fall far from the tree there.