Twins ask Jose Berrios to pick up the pace on the mound

KANSAS CITY, MO. – You might want to pull out a stopwatch when Jose Berrios takes the mound Friday.

In an attempt to address some mechanical issues and improve his command, Twins pitching coach Neil Allen is ordering Berrios to pick up the tempo when he starts against the Royals.

Berrios has not pitched since Aug. 11 because the Twins pushed him back in the rotation a couple of days. That enabled them to have Berrios throw two bullpen sessions between starts so that they could work on some bad habits he has developed. He wraps the ball behind his back during his delivery, and Allen believes that is hurting his command.

It was during those sessions that Allen harped on Berrios to work faster.

"We did a lot of work on fastball command and we tried to speed up our tempo, because if you get the tempo working quicker, you get the arm working quicker," Allen said. "We can try to eliminate [the flaw in his windup] the best we can now until we can attack it in the offseason. Right now, we try to get him to pick up his tempo and find his release point.

"The first session was a tough-love session."

Berrios wasn't allowed to throw any offspeed pitches until he threw his fastball for strikes seven out of 10 times. Allen said Berrios improved his strike-throwing when he threw his second bullpen session earlier this week.

"He got a lot out of it, and got a lot of work in," Allen said.

Berrios, the Twins' top pitching prospect, has failed to live up to the hype in the majors this season, going 2-3 with a 9.32 ERA in seven starts. He made his big-league debut April 27 but was sent back to Class AAA Rochester on May 17 after going 1-1 with a 10.20 ERA. Since his return Aug. 1, he is 1-2 with an 8.31 ERA.

A lot of his success is based on getting ahead of hitters, so he can use his changeup and curveball.

"I've been trying to learn from everybody here," said Berrios, who also gets advice from veteran righthander Ervin Santana. "It's my first year. I've had a couple rough outings. But I'm learning from them and I'm making adjustments."

Both Miguel Sano and Joe Mauer were back in the lineup Thursday, with Sano playing third base and Mauer the designated hitter.

Sano's sore elbow had kept him out of the field since Aug. 7. He was the DH in five games after that. A magnetic resonance imaging exam showed no structural damage, so he kept treating it until the discomfort subsided. Manager Paul Molitor watched Sano throw over the past three days.

"I'm not sure if he's 100 percent," Molitor said, "but I've been assured by our staff that there's no risk there. He's thrown the ball across the diamond the last couple of days."

Mauer missed Wednesday's game at Atlanta because of sore quadriceps.

With the Twins interested in seeing what Jorge Polanco can do at short, Eduardo Escobar's playing time has been cut again. He has started only twice in the last week.

It doesn't help that Sano is able to play third again. Escobar got two starts at shortstop last weekend, when Polanco was moved to third. Now that Sano has returned, Polanco is expected to play short. That makes it even harder for Escobar, batting .259 with five home runs and 31 RBI, to get on the field.

"I have to try to stay checked in with him and keep him as positive as I can," Molitor said.

The Twins and Rochester Red Wings are expected to announce a two-year extension of their contract Friday. Rochester has been the Twins' top minor league affiliate for 14 years.