Pitching for the triple-A Buffalo Bisons, Berríos allowed five earned runs — including a pair of homers — with two walks and two strikeouts over four innings against the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders.
The veteran right-hander threw 42 of his 70 pitches for strikes and averaged just 91.9 m.p.h. with his fastball. The diminished velocity continued a concerning trend that arose last season, when Berríos averaged 92.5 m.p.h. with his heater.
Berríos averaged between 93.6-94 m.p.h. in each of the previous three seasons.
The 31-year-old took the hill with a five-run lead in the bottom of the first, but Spencer Jones — the New York Yankees’ No. 6-ranked prospect on MLB Pipeline — immediately clawed one back with a solo home run.
The RailRiders scored a pair of runs in each of the next two innings, as Jones hit a two-run single and Seth Brown evened the score with a two-run shot.
“Physically, I’ve been feeling great,” Berríos said.
Berríos began the season on the injured list with a stress fracture in his elbow. He was seemingly healthy entering spring training, but as he went through a physical in an attempt to join Team Puerto Rico at the World Baseball Classic, an MRI revealed elbow inflammation.
