A look at Dilson Herrera, the Mets' newest prospect
Marlon Byrd celebrates his first-inning run against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citi Field. (July 20, 2013) Credit: Jim McIsaac
The Mets traded Marlon Byrd, John Buck and cash on Tuesday to the Pittsburgh Pirates for minor league second baseman Dilson Herrera and a player to be named later. So who exactly are the Mets getting in this deal?
Herrera, 19, is a career .281 hitter with a .355 OBP, .455 slugging percentage and 21 home runs in 995 minor league plate appearances spread over three seasons. He was playing for Class-A West Virginia prior to the trade, where he had a season line of .265/.330/.421 with 11 home runs.
Herrera has played 163 games at second base -- including all 104 of his games in the field this season -- and 59 games at third base.
The 2013 Minor League Baseball Analyst descibes Herrera as having "good bat speed and power to all fields."
"Can be overly aggressive and strikes out too much, but also draws plenty of walks. Is a below-average defender for now, but shows decent instincts and has the raw tools to be average at 2B."
There are, of course, flaws with the young player.
Herrera, a right-handed hitter, has 51 errors in 227 career games in the field, including 25 errors in 163 games at second base. He started his minor league career at third, committing 26 errors in 59 games before converting to second.
He also has 39 stolen bases during his minor league career, though he's been caught stealing 18 times.
Herrera's struck out in 22.4 percent of his plate appearances.
The Analyst pegs his potential as a starting second baseman in the majors and lists his expected MLB debut as 2016.
