Herron feeling better than he ever has

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/08/2018 (2641 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

When the Winnipeg Goldeyes claimed pitcher Tyler Herron off waivers from the Lincoln Saltdogs on July 11, it caught him off guard.

He wasn’t surprised the Goldeyes were interested in his services, he just wasn’t aware that he was on the market in the first place.

“My cellphone broke that day. I didn’t even know I was on waivers,” said Herron, who turns 32 on Sunday.

The move to the Goldeyes marks another chapter in Herron’s pro baseball career, which started when he was only 18 years old. After an impressive high school career in Wellington, Fla., where his 0.25 ERA was the best in the nation, Herron was drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in the first round of the 2005 MLB Draft. He opted to skip college and sign with the Cardinals to begin his professional career, receiving a US$675,000 signing bonus.

“Draft day was one of the most exciting days of my life. I knew all along that I didn’t want to go to college. I wanted to get my career started, as this is what I’ve wanted to do my entire life,” Herron said.

It didn’t take Herron long to realize he was no longer pitching against high school hitters. He said in high school, he could get away with just trying to throw the ball past his opponents, but at the professional level, he needed to take a whole new approach to the game. He began his career pitching at the rookie-class minor-league level, where he had an 0-3 record in 13 starts with a 5.62 ERA.

“I was a young dumb kid. I thought I was going to be in the big leagues in a week,” Herron said of the beginning of his career.

“I kind of had that arrogance and cockiness and I got brought down to ground level real quick, but it’s been a pretty good journey ever since.”

It definitely has been a journey for Herron ever since. He was released by the Cardinals in 2009 after a couple seasons bouncing around the minors for their organization. He was quickly scooped up the Pittsburgh Pirates, playing for their double-A club for the 2009 season before he was released once again. Herron then found himself playing independent ball, where an impressive 2012 campaign with the Fargo-Moorhead RedHawks featuring a 12-3 record and 3.29 ERA landed him a contract with the Washington Nationals. He reached as high as triple-A with Washington, but never got the call to the big-league club. He did however, get a call in 2014 that the Nationals were releasing him, forcing him to go back to the independent circuit.

But once again, an impressive year with Fargo-Moorhead got him back in affiliated baseball — this time, it was the New York Mets who signed him in 2016 to a minor-league deal. However, Herron didn’t finish the season in the Big Apple, as for the fourth time in his career, he was released by a major-league organization.

“Not really,” Herron said on whether or not it bugs him that he never made it to the majors.

“I’m still doing what I love to do. If I ever thought I couldn’t play in the big leagues, I would probably be done playing because that’s the dream. The dream isn’t to play indy ball, obviously — it’s a lot of fun, but the dream is to play in the big leagues.”

Back to Fargo-Moorhead he went to finish off the 2016 season, which was arguably his most impressive as a pro. He dominated the American Association with a remarkable 0.80 ERA and 5-1 record in seven starts to close out the year. He answered with another big year in 2017 for the RedHawks, where he went 9-3 with a 2.92 ERA.

Since leaving Fargo-Moorhead after a trade to Lincoln last January, the American Association hasn’t been as kind to the veteran right-hander. His ERA with Lincoln skyrocketed to 7.33 to go along with a 4-5 record before he was put on waivers.

Since joining the Goldeyes nearly a month ago, things have gone better, as he has a 4.21 ERA in four starts with the Fish, but still struggling to pick up wins as he is 1-3 in those games.

But Herron has found his way from the American Association to affiliated ball twice in his career, and even though he’s now in his 30s and not having a career year, he’s confident he can make the jump again and doesn’t plan to give up any time soon.

“I feel better than I ever have, so we’ll see what happens I guess,” Herron said. “I don’t think I can play till I’m 37 like Reggie (Abercrombie), but I’ll see, I’m going to try.”

Herron is getting the start for the Goldeyes today in Game 2 of their three-game series with the Chicago Dogs at Shaw Park.

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca Twitter: @TaylorAllen31