WORLD BASEBALL CLASSIC: POOL D - NICARAGUA VS PUERTO RICO

March 11, 2023

Jose Berrios

LoanDepot Park

Team Puerto Rico

Pregame Press Conference

Q. How are you feeling, brother?

JOSE BERRIOS: Fine. Thank God, and very happy and an honor to be here again.

Q. Your third World Baseball Classic. Being so young, incredible. You were the youngest player to participate in a World Classic.

JOSE BERRIOS: I was remembering the first two Classics. I was seeing the stars from our island, Puerto Rico, and now I have this opportunity to participate in this Classic. I'm part of the group of my country. Representing my country in the WBC. That's huge.

We are starting a new Classic today with a talented team with a lot of energy and very excited to go out and play.

Q. How is the energy on the team?

JOSE BERRIOS: 100 percent great chemistry. It's a great mix of young players with veteran players. People playing in the Classic for the first time. It's great.

Q. Have the Blue Jays imposed some restrictions on you?

JOSE BERRIOS: No, actually, according to the rules of the tournament, they have the restrictions in terms of pitch counts in each game. Christian Vazquez and I have been working to be on the same page and to do a good job.

Q. Incredible. Your team has many, many talented players and the same goes for your team in Canada.

JOSE BERRIOS: There are many Puerto Rican players there. I know the city. I know that city. It's a great city. The Boricuas playing there, it's a very talented group to compete. I'm very happy for them.

We always speak. Being part of that organization, I feel happy for them.

Q. Is this your first Classic? You have a lot of experience. We have very young players. This is the first experience playing in this kind of ballpark. How is Puerto Rico feeling playing Nicaragua?

JOSE BERRIOS: We have to play the whole game. There are no bad teams here. We have a very aggressive plan, but we have to take it one inning at a time or one pitch at a time. There are no bad teams here. Nicaragua, Israel, they are solid teams.

This is a very short tournament, and we should have that mindset.

Q. Who would you consider would be one of the toughest opponents out of the teams that you are going to face? What do you think?

JOSE BERRIOS: The media has their favorite, as I had as a fan when I was a little boy. I had my favorite. Like I said before, there are no easy games. Every game will be played as being the last one. We are going to dedicate ourselves 100 percent.