Luis

Heredia

Heredia has not pitched particularly well in his second season with Low-A West Virginia, putting up a 4.53 ERA and a 1.441 WHIP. Most troubling are hit 4.2 BB/9 and his 3.8 K/9. Heredia is still just 19 years old, but he came into spring training well overweight to start 2013 and has not pitched as well as he did with short season-A in 2012, but he still will flash the potential of a frontline starter. He will likely be a trendy pick for a breakout prospect for 2015, and is someone who could move quickly if he begins to figure it out.

Heredia threw one pitch and was taken out of the game. He will be evaluated in the next few days. Heredia was signed for $2.6 million in 2010 out of Mexico, and was viewed as a potential front-line pitcher who would fit between Gerrit Cole and Jameson Taillon.

Heredia left his start Saturday after just one pitch with pain in his left shoulder. He’ll undergo tests this week and could be out for a while. The 19-year-old was signed for $2.6 million out of Mexico in 2010.

Heredia came camp substantially overweight in 2013 and had a lost season. He has lost significant weight since then to return to his prior weight, but is repeating Low-A to begin 2014. He floundered in his first start, allowing six hits and eight walks, while throwing a wild pitch and striking out only three batters. Heredia still has the potential to be a front of the rotation force, but if he continues to struggle he may never reach that. Continue to track Heredia, as if he does well, he could be promoted to High-A prior to his 20th birthday.

Heredia turned 20 the day before his start, and could, finally, be turning the corner as a prospect. He has spent the last two years in the Low-A South Atlantic League and has seen his K/9 plunge to 4.0 in 2014. Heredia has frontline potential, but he has struggled to show anything resembling the upside displayed with his breakout 2012 season. His 3.96 ERA and 1.349 WHIP are solid, and Heredia could take a big step forward over the last two weeks of the minor league season.

Customarily, Heredia would begin play in the Dominican Summer League. But the decision to bring him state-side could mean that the Pirates think the 16-year-old will be ready to jump to rookie ball. And with a fastball in the low 90’s, Heredia certainly has some tools to compete.

It’s the largest bonus the Pirates have ever awarded to an international amateur. Veracruz, his former team in Mexico, will keep 75 percent of the bonus, while the remaining 25 percent will go to Heredia. The teenage right-hander has already passed a physical and all aspects of the agreement have been completed, however a formal announcement will be made in his hometown in Mexico next week.