Jairo Heredia, RHP: Prospect Profile #8

Written by Sean P | 24 February 2010

Jairo Heredia

6'1", 190 lbs

Year	Age	Tm	Lg	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	WHIP	H/9	HR/9	BB/9	SO/9	SO/BB
2007	17	Yankees	GULF	2	2	2.72	11	6	46.1	39	14	4	11	52	1.079	7.6	0.8	2.1	10.1	4.73
2008	18	Charleston	SALL	6	7	3.25	21	21	102.1	99	37	7	43	95	1.388	8.7	0.6	3.8	8.4	2.21
2009	19	3 Teams	3 Lgs	3	3	3.99	10	10	38.1	42	17	3	8	32	1.304	9.9	0.7	1.9	7.5	4.00
2009	19	Yankees	GULF	0	0	1.80	2	2	5.0	3	1	0	2	5	1.000	5.4	0.0	3.6	9.0	2.50
2009	19	Charleston	SALL	1	1	2.37	4	4	19.0	14	5	1	1	17	0.789	6.6	0.5	0.5	8.1	17.00
2009	19	Tampa	FLOR	2	2	6.91	4	4	14.1	25	11	2	5	10	2.093	15.7	1.3	3.1	6.3	2.00
3 Seasons				11	12	3.27	42	37	187.0	180	68	14	62	179	1.294	8.7	0.7	3.0	8.6	2.89
A (2 seasons)				7	8	3.12	25	25	121.1	113	42	8	44	112	1.294	8.4	0.6	3.3	8.3	2.55
Rk (2 seasons)				2	2	2.63	13	8	51.1	42	15	4	13	57	1.071	7.4	0.7	2.3	10.0	4.38
A+ (1 season)				2	2	6.91	4	4	14.1	25	11	2	5	10	2.093	15.7	1.3	3.1	6.3	2.00

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 2/24/2010.

Jairo Heredia was signed in 2006 as part of the international free agent class and received a 285,000 dollar bonus. Originally from the Dominican Republic, Heredia was an attractive prospect due to his advanced command and polish for a 16 year old international signee. Shoulder problems have plagued Heredia since 2007 however and although his talent remains tantalizing, injuries are starting to take a toll in terms of development time.

Heredia landed squarely on the map with his 2007 debut season, posting impressive numbers after spending only part of 2006 in the Dominican summer league.

Season K/9 BB/9 K/BB HR/9 AVG WHIP BABIP LOB% FIP

2007 (R) 10.10 2.14 4.73 0.78 .230 1.08 .308 80.2 % 2.98

2008 (A) 8.36 3.78 2.21 0.62 .255 1.39 .322 64.9 % 3.64

His 2007 season was a rousing success that was bracketed by shoulder issues that eventually shut him down in August. He also spent time nursing an injury in April of 2008 but showed no ill effects upon returning, almost matching the successful run he posted a year earlier. As an 18 year old in Charleston everyone was impressed with his success and it was mostly accredited to his plus secondary offerings as well as polished command. Early hubristic comparisons had Heredia as the next coming of Pedro Martinez and after 2008 he leapt onto many top 10 Yankee prospect lists.

Pegged to start 2009 with the Tampa Yankees, the 19 year old was set back with early shoulder issues. They weren’t serious enough to warrant surgery but they did prove detrimental to his development, causing him to miss months rehabbing the inflamed shoulder. He only ended up making 10 starts between the GCL, A and A+ levels. 2009 was kind of a lost year for Heredia because the development of his changeup stalled and the attempts to add more velocity to a well commanded 4 seam fastball took a back seat to injury rehab.

Scouting

Heredia throws a fastball with good movement in the low 90s, a true tumbling 12-6 curveball around 75-79 and a changeup that's a very good pitch but still a work in progress. Since 2006 his velocity has consistently sat at around 90-93 on his fastball but many remained optimistic he would add velocity as he filled out and got older. So far that has yet to happen. Heredia remains a projectable mid rotation starter because of his advanced command and polish. He has a very good feel for setting up hitters, locating both his fastball and curveball to both sides of the plate and getting hitters to chase out of the zone. The changeup is an addition to his arsenal that he originally shied away from using, but with some refinement in 2008, he was able to effectively develop it. Beginning 2009 Heredia’s main task before the injury was to progress further with his changeup. His makeup and attitude have also won praise throughout the organization and his outlook remains positive as he enters 2010 as a 20 yr old most likely in Tampa.