FORT MYERS, FLA. – Jose Berrios has discovered that as much as he wants to be in Minnesota, he doesn't want to be there in January.
Berrios toured the frozen north with catcher John Ryan Murphy during the annual Twins winter caravan.
"Cold," the 22-year-old pitcher said. "Too cold."
Their tour included stops in Fargo, Warroad, Crookston, Grand Forks, Fergus Falls and other locations. But the highlight came when Berrios realized that the vehicle he was in was about to drive onto a frozen North Long Lake near Brainerd.
"When we drove onto the lake, I was like, 'What!' " Berrios said.
The whole humans-on-ice concept had to be explained to the native Puerto Rican. Eventually, Berrios got out of the vehicle, stood on the ice and took pictures with Murphy, a Floridian who also was on a frozen lake for the first time.
"When they dug the hole and it was 19 inches, I was like great," Berrios said.
It's more important for Berrios to be comfortable on dirt, like the dirt on the pitcher's mound. After going 3-7 with an 8.02 ERA in his debut major league season last year, he has a long way to go to make that happen. But he wants to prove this year that he deserved the designation as the top starting pitching prospect in the organization after going 46-25 with a 2.89 ERA as a minor leaguer.
