Meet a Prospect: Ronald Herrera

We kick off our Meet a Prospect series for Prospects Month with a player we haven't really heard much about this winter, Ronald Herrera. Herrera was the Double-A pitcher that Brian Cashman acquired this winter from the San Diego Padres for Jose Pirela and will be the pitcher that will join the Double-A Trenton Thunder pitching staff. Herrera was the first trade acquisition during the offseason so it's only right that he's the first prospect showcase during Prospects Month 2016.

The Oakland Athletics signed Herrera out of Venezuela back in 2011 for a modest $20,000 and eventually sent him to San Diego in the Kyle Blanks trade from a couple years back. Herrera was praised when he was signed for being exceptionally polished, a trait he still showcases today, for his age and the fact that he featured three pitches already. Herrera could touch 94 MPH on his fastball when he signed with Oakland despite being just 5’10” and 168 lbs. and also throws a changeup and a curveball.

Herrera’s fastball is said to feature some late sinking action that induces a ton of ground balls, but not a lot of K’s unfortunately. Herrera is not the type of pitcher, at least not yet, that will blow opposing batters away 200 times a season. Herrera relies on his impeccable control, his late movement and his repertoire of pitches to keep the batters guessing and off balanced. Herrera can rear back when he needs to and find his mid-90’s fastball but his strikeout pitch looks to be his changeup at this point in his career.

Here is Herrera's career minor league stat line that he brings to his new organization.

Year	Tm	Lev	W	L	ERA	G	IP	H	R	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H9	HR9	BB9	SO9
2012	Athletics	FRk	2	4	2.47	14	58.1	66	24	1	20	44	1.474	10.2	0.2	3.1	6.8
2013	2 Teams	Rk-A-	7	4	4.02	16	78.1	86	42	3	13	66	1.264	9.9	0.3	1.5	7.6
2013	Athletics	Rk	6	4	3.82	14	70.2	76	36	3	11	58	1.231	9.7	0.4	1.4	7.4
2013	Vermont	A-	1	0	5.87	2	7.2	10	6	0	2	8	1.565	11.7	0.0	2.3	9.4
2014	2 Teams	A	6	9	3.93	26	132.2	146	71	11	25	82	1.289	9.9	0.7	1.7	5.6
2014	Beloit	A	3	4	3.38	9	50.2	53	26	6	10	35	1.243	9.4	1.1	1.8	6.2
2014	Fort Wayne	A	3	5	4.28	17	82.0	93	45	5	15	47	1.317	10.2	0.5	1.6	5.2
2015	2 Teams	A+-AA	8	7	4.08	26	145.2	148	73	10	42	104	1.304	9.1	0.6	2.6	6.4
2015	Lake Elsinore	A+	5	6	3.88	18	102.0	100	48	6	28	69	1.255	8.8	0.5	2.5	6.1
2015	San Antonio	AA	3	1	4.53	8	43.2	48	25	4	14	35	1.420	9.9	0.8	2.9	7.2

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table

Welcome to the family!