The right-hander was acquired from the Brewers in the Nick Mears trade in 2024
29. Yujanyer Herrera (80 points, 14 ballots)
Herrera just turned 21 a few months ago, but he has been a professional for five years, having been signed in August 2019 out of Venezuela by the Brewers for only a $10k bonus. Due to the pandemic, Herrera didn’t throw a pitch in affiliated ball until 2021 and he didn’t come stateside until the next year. Indeed, the 6’3” right-hander was Rule 5 eligible after the 2023 season but not selected. I don’t blame them, as Herrera truly didn’t pop up on the prospect radar until 2024. He seemed like a strong candidate to be added to the Rockies’ 40-man roster this off-season, but unfortunately he underwent Tommy John surgery in October and will miss the 2025 season.
Herrera began his breakout 2024 back in Low-A Carolina for the third-straight year (though he was still 1.6 years younger than league average), where he quickly showed that he was ready for a new challenge with 17 innings of 2.12 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and 14.3 K/9 rate ball over four games. A promotion to High-A Wisconsin followed, where he was 3.1 years younger than league average. In 12 games there, Herrera threw 51 innings with a 3.18 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 8.8 K/9 rate, and 3.0 BB/9 rate.
That was enough for the Rockies to acquire Herrera as part of the Nick Mears trade (along with Bradley Blalock) in July. After the trade, Herrera made six starts with Spokane, throwing 32 2⁄3 innings with a 3.31 ERA (3.41 xFIP), 1.13 WHIP, 9.1 K/9 rate, and 3.0 BB/9 rate. Those were strong results that pointed toward an upper minors placement this year before his arm injury scuttled those plans.
Herrera is currently 29th in the system as a 40 FV player according to MLB.com:
Herrera has the makings of a solid three-pitch mix coming from a 6-foot-3 frame. The right-hander’s fastball sits in the 92-94 mph range, and he backs it up with an above-average slider with good dropping action, and he can backfoot lefties with it. He also has a below-average changeup.
Herrera has missed a lot more bats in 2024 than he has previously, thanks largely to that breaking ball, and he continues to do a good job of getting ground-ball outs and throwing a good amount of strikes. If the changeup comes, he could have the chance to start, with the fastball-slider combination likely ticking up if he ends up in a bullpen.
Eric Longenhagen of Fangraphs was even more bullish on Herrera, ranking him as easily the best of the prospects Colorado received at the deadline (11th out of 92) as a 45 FV prospect despite not even ranking him in the Brewers system back in March. The injury caused him to back off that grade somewhat — now he ranks Herrera 30th in the system as a 40 FV player with a 60 slider grade:
Herrera is listed at 175 pounds but is more like 250. He’s a below-average athlete who has struggled to throw strikes at various points during his career, and he still looks like he has below-average command despite his reasonable walk total from 2024. Herrera’s best pitch is his slider, a tight mid-80s hellraiser with late bite and good length for how hard it is. Still, too many of his sliders back up on him right now. He has a well-demarcated four-seam/two-seam fastball mix, but no cogent third pitch yet. Herrera’s velo keeled off at the very end of the year and he was put on the IL with elbow inflammation in September (he also had a hamstring issue last season); the Rockies left him off the 40-man roster. There’s a little too much development needed here to comfortably project Herrera as a starter, but he should be a fine sinker/slider middle reliever in time.
Herrera represents the kind of pitching prospect the system needs more of and I’m excited to see how he reacts to the challenge of Double-A once he recovers from the Tommy John surgery, assuming he is either protected or unselected from the Rule 5 draft after this season. I ranked Herrera as a 40 FV prospect, 29th on my ballot, due to the possibility he remains in the rotation and the quality of the stuff.