Berrios caps stellar spring with impressive start

Righty throws three shutout innings vs. Nats in exhibition finale

March 28th, 2018

WASHINGTON -- Right-hander finished his excellent spring with another strong outing, throwing three hitless innings against the Nationals on Tuesday in a 3-1 win in an exhibition game at Nationals Park.
Berrios, lined up to be the club's No. 3 starter so he can pitch in his native Puerto Rico on April 17, finished Spring Training with a 1.42 ERA in 19 innings. The only batter to reach against him on Tuesday was , who drew a two-out walk in the first. Berrios' next start will come Sunday against the Orioles.
"I felt good," Berrios said through a translator. "My arm feels very good. My pitches are right where I want them."
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Berrios was pleased by the quality of his stuff heading into the season, as his fastball sat in the 93-94 mph range and he mixed in nine curveballs and nine changeups. He's looking to build on his breakout season that saw him post a 3.89 ERA in 145 2/3 innings last year.
"When you have a game like that, you want to keep competing," Berrios said. "But it's just another Spring Training game to get ready for the season. But I feel 100 percent and ready to go."
Twins Tidbits
• Reliever had a solid spring, finishing with a scoreless inning with two strikeouts against Washington to finish with a 2.38 ERA. He struck out 11, walked four and allowed one homer in 11 1/3 innings.
• Rule 5 reliever threw a scoreless seventh, working out of a jam he created by issuing two walks. He struck out Michael A. Taylor looking on a 3-2 curveball for the second out before getting to fly out to right to end the jam. He finishes spring with a 5.25 ERA, but the Twins are intrigued by his stuff. His fastball reached 97 mph with his slider topping out at 88 mph on Tuesday.

• Right-hander remains in Florida where he'll start in a Minor League game on Wednesday. He threw a bullpen session on Tuesday without any issues and is scheduled to be stretched out properly for his start against the Pirates on Monday.
• The Twins brought several non-roster players to Nationals Park, including top shortstop prospect , who singled in the ninth to spark a two-run rally. Other non-roster players who made the trip included , , , Bobby Wilson, Ryan Eades, D.J. Baxendale, Tom Hackimer, Ryne Harper, Tyler Jay, Matt Magill and .
Up next
The Twins open the season against the Orioles on Thursday at 2:05 p.m. CT as Jake Odorizzi gets the Opening Day assignment and will face . The game can be seen on MLB.TV. The Twins left for Baltimore after the game and will hold a workout day at Camden Yards on Wednesday at 1 p.m. ET. But the club has an off-day on Friday in case weather postpones Opening Day on Thursday.