Stacey King
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For Berrios, strikeouts are nice but not necessary
For young pitchers who throw in the 93 to 94 mph range, strikeout statistics can sometimes be the barometer they use to measure success.
Six innings, nine K's. Good game. Eight innings, 10 K's, good work.
Seven innings, one strikeout, umm, not so good.
And not at all true.
The fine work performed by Jose Berrios in Thursday's midday, camp-day game at Frontier Field was very much proof that strikeouts aren't the end-all, be-all for a guy considered to be a strikeout threat.
Berrios fanned just one Gwinnett hitter, allowed four singles and walked two as the Rochester Red Wings defeated the Braves 4-0 for his first Triple-A victory.
His final line with just that one fourth-inning strikeout hardly matched his M.O. But when he came off the mound to loud applause from the 9,169 fans, he was pleased — with his work and for the cheers.
The 21-year-old right-hander gave a tip of the cap as he crossed the base line and walked toward the dugout.
"That was a good feeling," Berrios said. "Everybody gave me (a) thank you for the good work and I appreciate that. I have to be humble with everybody and say thank you for everything."
His thank-yous also went to the eight fielders behind him. Right-fielder Oswaldo Arcia made a slick diving catch to end the seventh. Second baseman James Beresford made a terrific running catch on a fly ball into medium-deep right field in the eighth to prevent at least one runner from scoring.
Wings manager Mike Quade was most pleased, however, with the continuing maturity and growth shown by Berrios.
Making his fourth Triple-A start of the season since a July 1 promotion from Double-A Chattanooga, Berrios showed a willingness to just worry about getting outs and not so much how he got them.
Before Thursday, in his 18 starts this season, he'd never fanned fewer than five batters when he pitched into the sixth inning. He was averaging better than a strikeout per inning, with 113 K's in 108 1/3 innings. That includes 21 strikeouts in his 17 2/3 innings for the Wings.
On Thursday, though, no one cared at all that there was just one K against the Braves. He threw 96 pitches and 61 were strikes.
“Everybody gave me (a) thank you for the good work and I appreciate that. I have to be humble with everybody and say thank you for everything.”
"Maybe that's a product of the command we're looking for," Quade said. "Pitching to contact is not a bad thing. An economic pitch count is not a bad thing.
"Most young pitchers, especially guys who throw in the low- to mid-90s, are accustomed to striking guys out. But as you play higher (on the competition ladder), good hitters put balls in play. If you get in the mindset where you have to strike guys out, you'll be in trouble."
One big difference for Berrios against Gwinnett was the location of his fastball. Recent work on making slight alterations in his delivery were beneficial.
"I work with my fastball command," he said. "I worked on something with my windup and I practice and I do it in the game. That's what helped me a lot. Good fastball command makes the outs go quicker in the inning."
An early lead didn't hurt. Reynaldo Rodriguez doubled home a run in the first, Beresford singled home a run in the third, and Danny Ortiz belted his team-leading 11th home run, a two-run shot in the sixth.
"Today was a good day for everybody," Berrios said.
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