Jairo Heredia on the rise

Jairo Heredia has largely been lost in the shuffle among the Yankee pitching prospects, but his recent numbers may be putting him back on the prospect map.  Signed out of the Dominican Republic in 2006 for a 6-figure bonus, Heredia made a great debut on the Gulf Coast League at 17, posting a 2.98 FIP, with a strikeout rate above 10 per 9, and a walk rate just over 2 per 9.  The reports on Heredia were that he was highly polished, but lacked the power repertoire to dominate advanced hitters (similar to Manny Banuelos at that age).  After the great debut at a young age, Heredia was definitely on a lot of people’s radars.

Heredia was aggressively promoted to Charleston at 18, and while he was not as dominant as he was in rookie ball, he more than held his own (3.64 FIP, 8.36 k/9, 3.78 bb/9).  In 2009, Heredia struggled with shoulder injuries, and was limited to 38 1/3 innings on the season between Charleston, Tampa, and the GCL.  The lost development appeared to hurt Heredia in 2010 as well.  While he pitched well through 70 innings in low-A (2.99 FIP), he struggled upon promotion to high-A Tampa (4.94 FIP).

Heredia’s 2011 provides reason for hope, however.  At 21 in high-A Tampa, he is no longer very young for his league, but still young enough to be a legitimate prospect.  In 62 1/3 innings, he appears to be back to his early level of success, posting a 2.83 FIP with 9.39 k/9 and 1.88 bb/9.  If he keeps pitching this well, he will likely see AA within the next month or so, where he will face new challenges.  I have not heard any new updates about Heredia’s repertoire, but in the past his fastball has sat in the low-90′s with a good curveball and a developing changeup.  I would be curious as to the state of his velocity and secondary offerings today, but it is apparent that if healthy, Heredia can be a very effective pitcher. He likely doesn’t have front-line upside, but if he keeps pitching at this level, he could re-establish himself as a solid mid-rotation prospect.  He’s definitely someone who we probably should be paying closer attention to as he progresses through the system, an interesting post-hype sleeper.