Comments on: Prospect Watch: Solid Starts From Kingham, Wilson and Heredia

By: Ian Rothermund

Ian Rothermund — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 17:16:00 +0000

….from day one. If he stays interested in baseball, that’ll be the first secondary pitch I teach my son.

By: Ian Rothermund

Ian Rothermund — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 17:15:00 +0000

Definitely. Heredia’s case is just so different, even from Taillon’s or any other prep pitcher. I’ve seen pictures of Heredia and he seems every bit of 17. I can’t imagine what he’ll be built like by the time he’s 23 after being groomed as a pro athlete for 6 or 7 years. Like I alluded to above, at this point, his results are really secondary at this point to learning sound mechanics, staying healthy, and building innings. At this point I wouldn’t even stress the development of his secondary pitches as much, and I know that those are already progressing nicely, especially the change up. I really enjoyed that article earlier in the season about the “fastball academy” changing to more of a “fastball/change academy.” Especially considering not only the value of a solid change up in the major leagues, but also the lack of additional strain it places on the arm and body as a whole, there’s no reason it shouldn’t be a primary focus fr

By: JohnDreker

JohnDreker — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 14:33:00 +0000

If I had to guess, I’d say he spends the entire 2013 season at West Virginia, building up to a normal inning total, then begins 2014 at Bradenton. How he pitches from there, will dictate how fast he moves, but I don’t see how going any quicker than that even if he is dominant through 2014. Best case would be a 1-2 game trial at the end of next year in Bradenton, especially if they are playoff bound and WV isn’t.

By: Ian Rothermund

Ian Rothermund — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 13:38:00 +0000

I think that at this point, the numbers just have to be a comforting reminder of how good his stuff is. He’s still only 17 though, and I don’t see them even dreaming about being aggressive with his movement until he hits at least Bradenton. Keep in mind, an American kid in high school might pitch 50-70 innings through an entire year, and he’s taking the ball every 5 days. I’d assume he’d spend an entire year in WV next season.

I’m curious how they handle him going forward as well, since they’ve never had a player of this caliber from this young of an age, but I see them taking a more cautious approach throughout.

By: Lee Young

Lee Young — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 13:26:00 +0000

Well, with Grossman gone (UGH!), perhaps Santos will benefit with more ABs?

By: Matt Beam

Matt Beam — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 04:32:00 +0000

Heredia has to be pitching better than even the Pirates FO could have hoped for so far… it’ll be interesting how the Pirates handle his development/progression if he continues to produce along these lines.