Yoslan Herrera
From BR Bullpen
Yoslan Herrera Betancourt formerly identified as Yuslan Herrera
- Bats Right, Throws Right
- Height 6' 2", Weight 200 lb.
- Born April 28, 1981 in Pinar del Rio Cuba
[edit] Biographical Information
Yoslan Herrera is a pitcher in the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. He pitched for the Cuban youth national team in 1999-2000. He went 7-2 with a 3.14 ERA for Pinar del Rio in the 2002-2003 Cuban National League, his best year. Overall, he went 18-7 with a 3.72 ERA in his career. He was left off the Cuban roster in the 2004 Olympics due to injury, though many news reports have mistakenly claimed he played a role in their gold medal run. Herrera never played for Cuban national team at the senior level. Yoslan defected from Cuba in July of 2005 and settled in the Dominican Republic but did not have a work visa. The Pirates negotiated with Herrera in the off-season of 2006. Rumors came up throughout the fall that Yoslan had signed or that he had not signed because he failed a physical. The pitcher and club did come to terms on December 18 for a $750,000 signing bonus and a 3-year deal worth $1.17 million, with bonuses of up to $1.2 million per year. Some people expressed concern that Herrera had not pitched for two years. The Pirates assigned Herrera to the Altoona Curve. He debuted on April 11 against the Akron Aeros, pitching five innings and allowing one run on 4 hits and a walk. He struck out two. Herrera was 6-9 with a 4.69 ERA for Altoona. He walked only 38 in 128 2/3 IP but allowed a .296 opponent batting average.
Herrera began 2008 with the Curve and had a 5-8, 3.11 record after 17 games; he has also made a spot start with the Indianapolis Indians. In July, he was called up to Pittsburgh when Phil Dumatrait went on the disabled list for the second time. He got a start against the St. Louis Cardinals and allowed 11 hits and 6 runs in 4 1/3 innings in a no-decision. He retired his first MLB batter, Aaron Miles, and tossed two scoreless innings before St. Louis struck for 3 in the third, 2 in the 4th and one in the fifth before Franquelis Osoria relieved.
Yoslan's repertoire consists of a fastball timed 88-92 mph, a splitter, slider, curveball and changeup, coupled with good control.
Sources include the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Bucco Blog
