TYLER HERRON
8/5/86; '05 1st (St. Louis); Wellington, FL (HS)
R/R; 6-3, 190
| Level |
W-L-Sv |
G |
GS |
IP |
H |
HR |
BB |
K |
BB/9 |
K/9 |
WHIP |
OAVG |
ERA |
| 2005 R+ (StL) |
0-3-0 |
13 |
13 |
49.2 |
47 |
11 |
27 |
49 |
4.9 |
8.9 |
1.49 |
.245 |
5.62 |
| 2006 A-
(StL) |
0-1-0 |
1 |
1 |
6.0 |
7 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
1.5 |
4.5 |
1.33 |
.318 |
3.00 |
| 2006 R+ (StL) |
5-6-0 |
13 |
13 |
69.2 |
69 |
6 |
22 |
54 |
2.8 |
7.0 |
1.31 |
.259 |
4.13 |
| 2007 A
(StL) |
10-7-1 |
30 |
22 |
137.1 |
123 |
7 |
26 |
130 |
1.7 |
8.5 |
1.08 |
.240 |
3.74 |
| 2008 AA (StL) |
5-5-0 |
15 |
15 |
81.1 |
101 |
9 |
29 |
59 |
3.2 |
6.5 |
1.60 |
.304 |
5.20 |
| 2008 A+
(StL) |
2-2-1 |
12 |
9 |
56.2 |
49 |
5 |
11 |
43 |
1.7 |
6.8 |
1.06 |
.234 |
2.70 |
| 2009 AA (StL) |
2-4-0 |
9 |
9 |
45.2 |
48 |
2 |
22 |
37 |
4.3 |
7.3 |
1.53 |
.268 |
4.34 |
| 2009 AA |
0-2-0 |
8 |
4 |
26.0 |
30 |
1 |
15 |
18 |
5.2 |
6.2 |
1.73 |
.294 |
4.50 |
The Pirates signed Herron to a
minor league deal after the Cardinals, in a surprising move, released him
just four years after making him a supplemental first round selection. The Cards drafted him out of
Wellington HS, which also produced Pirates' first rounders Bobby Bradley and
Sean Burnett. Like those two, he was regarded as a very polished pitcher
when drafted, with good command of three average or better pitches: a
low-90s fastball, change and curve. Herron struggled in his first two
seasons, but seemingly broke out with a good 2007 season in which Baseball
America rated him the 11th best prospect in the Midwest League. He pitched
even better in high A the next year and earned a promotion after nine starts,
but he struggled in AA and returned to high A for three relief appearances late
in the year.
Back in AA for 2009, Herron allowed nine earned runs
in his first six innings over two starts, but posted an ERA of 2.95 in his next
seven outings. The Cards nevertheless released him, saying the move was
entirely based on his performance and that they wanted to give the innings to
more deserving pitchers. The explanation is a bit hard to swallow, as his
performance was improving and the Cards' AA roster is far from
prospect-laden. Some reports claimed his velocity had dropped; BA
described it as 89-91 going into the season. In any event, the Cards' handling of young
pitchers has struck me as increasingly eccentric in recent years. The Pirates assigned Herron to Altoona. He put
in four scoreless outings in relief, then moved to the rotation,
where he posted an ERA of 7.63 over four starts. In mid-July he went
on the DL with a foot blister. It must have been quite a
blister, because he never returned from it. Overall, it's obvious from
the numbers that Herron didn't show much with the
Curve. He won't be a minor league free agent for another two years
and isn't likely to get selected in the Rule 5 draft, so
the Pirates have time to see whether he can rebound. If he's
still in the system, he should return to Altoona next year, although it's most likely to
be in the bullpen given the other available options for the rotation.
Return to Right-Handed Pitchers