Prospect #39: Kelvin Herrera

By Jack Dempsey

The Royals signed right-handed pitcher Kelvin Herrera, a 5’10″, 162-pounder, was a nondrafted free agent out of the Dominican Republic on December 13, 2006.  Despite being undersized, the Tenares, D.R.-born righty is extremely polished for his age, proving remarkably savvy with pitching like a Minnesota Twins prospect.  Unfortunately, his slight size has caused him to miss significant – and I mean significant – time in recent seasons due to injuries.

Herrera has not tossed more than 3 1/3 innings since his acquisition in 2000.  He remains a pitcher that has command beyond his years and an excellent feel for the strike zone.  However, his inability to maintain health – and particularly the magnitude of his injuries – concerns me profoundly.  He missed all of the 2009 season with an elbow injury.

Herrera possesses a zippy fastball that touches the low-to-mid 90s and command of his secondary pitches.  However, his frame is so slight that injuries will probably be a concern for many as he (hopefully) progresses throughout the organizational ladder.

This year, he went 2-3 with a 4.35 ERA in 41 1/3 innings while striking out 40 and walking 15 in Low-A Burlington.  He had not pitched since the late spring in Iowa.  On the positive side, he is still merely 20 years old.  In the time that he has been healthy, he has posted a 2.07 ERA in 23 starts, 34 games and 152 1/3 innings for three different Royals affiliates, starting with the Dominican Summer League back in 2007.

By Jack Dempsey

From Schaum: From Bees announcer Nick Devlin “Herrera had elbow issues again, same as before. He is nasty though. Solid fastball and tons of movement. Control was iffy this year but he could have been hurt”

Having fun with stats- a look in the crystal ball at the career of Herrera

2011 (21)- AZ (getting back into shape) 4 G, 2 GS 12 IP, 1-0, 3.00 e.r.a, 12 K, 4 BB

Wilmington 8G,  6 GS, 30 IP, 33 K, 12 BB, 2-2, 2.70 e.r.a

2012 (22) Wilmington 22 G, 16 GS, 104 IP, 96 K, 32 BB, 7-6, 2.94 e.r.a

NWA  5 G, 5 GS, 31 IP, 33 K, 10 BB, 2-4, 5.22 e.r.a

2013 (23) NWA 24 G, 12 GS, 120 IP, 108 K, 42 BB, 7-8, 5 SV, 3.45 e.r.a

2014 (24) NWA  36 G, 0 GS, 45 IP, 56 K, 12 BB, 6-2, 15 SV, 1.80 e.r.a

Omaha 10 G, 0 GS, 15 IP, 20 K, 2 BB, 0-1, 5 SV, 1.20 e.r.a

2015 (25) Omaha 32 G, 10 GS, 99 IP, 103 K, 21 BB, 6-6, 11 SV, 3.73 e.r.a

Royals   4 G, 0 GS, 6 Ip, 3 K, 4 BB, 0-0, 9.00 e.r.a

2016 ( 26) Royals 53 G, 0 GS, 62 IP, 70 K, 21 BB, 2-3, 1 SV, 3.04 E.R.A

2017 (27) Royals 58 G, 0 GS, 70 IP, 80 K, 25 BB, 5-4, 5 SV, 3.21 e.r.a

2018 (28) Royals 74 G, 0 GS, 82 IP, 94 K, 18 BB, 9-3, 14 SV, 3.40 e.r.a

2019 (29) Yankees 62 G, 74 IP, 66 K, 27 BB, 4-5, 10 SV, 4.38 e.r.a

2020 (30) Yankees 46 G, 8 GS, 108 IP, 100 K, 40 BB, 5-8, 3 SV, 4.25 e.r.a

2021 (31) Pirates 66 G, 0 GS, 72 IP, 74K, 23 BB, 4-2, 36 SV, 3.00 e.r.a

2022 (32) Pirates 74 G, 0 GS, 74 IP, 70 K, 31 BB, 5-4, 32 SV, 3.77 e.r.a

Giants  12 G, 14 IP, 14 K, 4 BB, 1-1, o SV, 2.57 e.r.a

2023 (33) Astros 52 G, 0 GS, 55 IP, 45 K, 24 BB, 2-4, 8 SV, 4.58 e.ra

2024 (34) Astros 46 G, 0 GS, 44 IP, 28 K, 24 BB, 2-3, 1 SV, 5.11 e.r.a

Out of baseball