Berrios’ Year in Review: the Starting Rotation

September 12, 2008   ·   Patrick Hickey, Jr.   ·   Jump to comments

After the Cyclones last home game this week, the team’s pitching coach Hector Berrios was gracious enough to give reporters his season in review, discussing every member of the pitching staff’s performance. I was also able to do a one on one with him a week before the season was over as well, which also helped me put this piece together.

With many of the local newspapers covering the team are all done with their Cyclones coverage this season, the information he gave was for journalists’ ears only. However, since the beginning, I decided that at DemBrooklynBums.com, fans could come for year-round information on the team. With that being said, the next two posts will be dedicated to giving Mr. Berrios an opportunity to discuss his staff.

First up, the starters:

Brad Holt: “Holt has a power arm. He hit 100 miles per hour on the radar gun in Aberdeen and it was the first time I saw it live. That was impressive. We had a report on him that he threw 147 fastballs out of 152 pitches in a start in college. In the beginning, he told me, ‘I don’t even know what I throw.’ I told him, just throw whatever you have and we’ll take it from there. It turns out he has a power curve, 79-81 miles per hour with a big break. He also started to incorporate his change up. He’s very athletic and he’s constantly learning. He’s got a world of talent and with that type of power, especially considering how far he’s come with his secondary pitches in such a short amount of time, the sky is the limit. I think in two or three years, he’ll be a guy on the front end of the Mets rotation.”

Scott Shaw and Chris Schwinden: “These guys are both tacticians on the mound and they rely on spotting the ball. Their game is being able to locate their pitches and change speeds. They did an impressive job of that this season. I think Shaw was one of our most underrated pitchers and if you take two or three bad innings away from him, he was the best pitcher in the league this season.”

Pedro P. Martinez: “He was in the top 10 in the New York-Penn league up to his last few starts. But because of his youth, he was unable to sustain it. He still had a heck of a year though.”

Jenrry Mejia: “To be here at 18 and playing so well at this level is really impressive. He sits on 94 miles per hour and can get up to 97. He doesn’t quite have the extension of a guy like Holt has, but considering how young he is, I think he has a lot of potential.”

Photos by Ron Hatcher.