Berríos to start for Twins on Opening Day

Another day closer to Opening Day, another great piece of news! After the Minnesota Twins fell to the Atlanta Braves in Grapefruit League play today, manager Rocco Baldelli announced who will take the mound for the team on Opening Day. Do-Hyoung Park was one of the first to report that Jose Berrios will be taking mound against the Oakland Athletics on Thursday, March 26.

Berríos will be getting the nod on the first day of the season for the second year in a row. Last season, he faced the Cleveland Spiders in the season and home opener at Target Field, pitching 7.2 innings while allowing only two hits and one walk. The cherry on top was notching 10 strikeouts that day en route to a 2-0 Twins victory on the back of a seventh-inning two-run double by Marwin Gonzalez.

La MaKina will look to get his second Opening Day win in a row. If he does, it will be the first time since Johan Santana and Livan Hernandez won their season opener starts in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Santana got the win in a 7-4 game in which he pitched six innings and getting six strikeouts. Hernandez carried Minnesota to a 3-2 victory by pitching seven innings of two-run ball against the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim.