Written By Brandon Warne (ColdOmaha.com)
Respected local scoops slinger Darren Wolfson of KSTP and 1500 ESPN reports that he’s hearing right-hander Jose Berrios has been summoned back to the big leagues by the Minnesota Twins.
Berrios has been called up by the #MNTwins, I hear. Rochester beat guy with initial steam (can’t find his Twitter handle).
— Darren Wolfson (@DWolfsonKSTP) July 31, 2016
The reporter Wolfson is referring to is Kevin Oklobzija of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, who covers the Red Wings out there and had the following two-tweet string at around midnight Rochester time.
These would tend to be very solid reports, and we’ll report when the team confirms as well.
Twitter user Connor O’Shea tweeted a photo of Berrios being greeted by well-wishers, and stated it was “confirmed” that Jose would be starting for the Twins on Monday. And while O’Shea’s affiliation remains unclear at this point, it seems worth mentioning that Monday would line Berrios up to start over Tyler Duffey, whom ESPN lists as the current probable starter.
Manager Paul Molitor was non-committal after Duffey’s last start did not go well — he stated that he was “scheduled to pitch Monday” and pretty much stopped there — as the righty’s ERA swelled up to 6.12 following a start in which he recorded just four outs and allowed five earned runs.
Duffey hasn’t pitched out of the third inning now in back-to-back starts, and has a 7.77 ERA in five July starts with a staggering .363/.423/.604 opponents’ slash line.
Berrios on the other hand has been solid since returning to Rochester. He’s made 13 starts back down there with a 2.71 ERA, .597 OPS against and 91-27 K/BB ratio in 86.1 innings. After a tough couple of starts down there once he was initially sent back, he put together very solid months of June (2.02 ERA) and July (2.08), and is no doubt deserving of this return call-up.