Dilson Herrera

Dilson Jose Herrera Garcia

• Bats Both, Throws Right
• Height 5' 10", Weight 210 lb.

• Debut August 29, 2014

• Born March 3, 1994 in Cartagena, Bolivar Colombia

BR page

Biographical Information

Dilson Herrera made his major league debut at age 20.

He is a Colombian who signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in August 2010 for $220,000. The scouts were Rene Gayo and Orlando Covo. He debuted in 2011 with the VSL Pirates and hit .308/.413/.472 in 65 games, with 42 runs and 16 steals in 24 tries. He was 9th in the Venezuelan Summer League in OBP, tied Reginald Lampe for 5th in steals and tied Edgar Muñoz‏‎ for 8th in runs. He fielded .882 at third base, however, and was moved to second base starting in 2012.

Herrera came stateside in 2012 at age 18, hitting .281/.341/.482 for the GCL Pirates (41 R in 53 G) and .321/.345/.536 for the State College Spikes (7 R in 7 G). He fielded .965 overall at 2B. Baseball America ranked him as the Gulf Coast League's #7 prospect (between Carlos Tocci and Tzu-Wei Lin). He easily led the GCL in runs, 7 ahead of Kolby Copeland. He also tied Ericson Leonora for second in homers (7, one behind Yeicok Calderon) and was second to Luis Perez in slugging. Among GCL second basemen, he ranked first with 95 putouts and 141 assists. He helped the GCL Pirates to their first title in 45 years in the league.

He played for Team Colombia in the 2013 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, going 1 for 6 with a run. He pinch-ran for Luis Martinez and scored in the opener and pinch-hit for Edgar Renteria and singled off Rafael Moreno in a game 2 loss to Brazil. He then started at DH and led off in the semifinals against host Panama, going 0 for 5 in a 9-7 loss as Colombia was eliminated. He opened the summer of 2013 with the West Virginia Power, hitting .265/.330/.421 with 27 doubles and 69 runs in 109 games. In the 2013 Futures Game, he replaced Arismendy Alcantara at 2B for the World in a 4-2 loss. He flew out against C.J. Riefenhauser in his lone at-bat. He was then traded with Vic Black to the New York Mets for Marlon Byrd, John Buck and cash as part of a pennant-drive rush by the Pirates. He was 6 for 19 with 3 walks, 6 runs and four RBI in seven games for the Savannah Sand Gnats after the deal. For the season, his 75 runs were tied for 8th in the South Atlantic League in runs and his 202 putouts led SAL second basemen. Baseball America named him the #13 prospect in the Mets chain.

He continued his ascent in 2014 with the St. Lucie Mets (.307/.355/.410 in 67 G) and Binghamton Mets (.340/.406/.560 in 61 G, despite being the youngest player in the EL, almost 5 years younger than the league average). He scored 98 runs, had 33 doubles and 23 steals in 30 tries for the year. He led Mets farmhands in runs (one over Brandon Nimmo), hits (169, 5 over Matt Reynolds), doubles (one more than Brian Burgamy), was 5th in RBI (71), was 4th in steals and led in total bases (251, 24 more than Burgamy).

He made his big league debut as the starting second baseman for the New York Mets against the Philadelphia Phillies on August 29, 2014, going 0 for 3. He collected his first career hit the next day, a single off Jerome Williams as he went 1 for 3 in his second game. His first MLB homer came off Henderson Alvarez in his fourth game. He hit .220/.303/.407 in 18 games for the Mets. He was the youngest player in Mets history to homer and triple in the same game; Ed Kranepool had been 15 days older. He was the first Colombian player in Mets history and finished as the youngest player on a MLB roster that year, over a year younger than Javier Baez, the NL's next-youngest. At year's end, Baseball America listed him as the #12 prospect in the Florida State League (between Albert Almora and Jake Thompson), #12 in the Eastern League (between Gary Sanchez and Rob Refsnyder]), #4 in the Mets chain and #46 in minor league baseball. He played seven games in winter ball for the Licey Tigers and hit .240/.310/.320.

He struggled in a couple of stints filling in for Daniel Murphy for the Mets in 2015 (.211/.311/.367 in 31 G) but still put up fine numbers in the minors - .327/.382/.511 for the Las Vegas 51s in AAA. He was still only 21 years old as well. When Murphy left in the off-season, though, the Mets did not commit to Herrera, but instead traded for Neil Walker, another player developed by the Pirates. In March 2016, he was back with Colombia for the 2017 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers. He was 4 for 11 with 3 walks, a homer, 3 runs and 3 RBI. He came up big in the clutch; with a 1-1 score in the bottom of the 8th of the finale against host Panama, he took Manny Corpas deep to give Colombia a trip to the 2017 World Baseball Classic, their first World Baseball Classic. He was second on the team in OPS, behind Reynaldo Rodriguez. He was sent back to Las Vegas to open the season and in 86 games hit .276 with 24 doubles, 13 homers and 55 RBIs. On August 1st, the Mets traded him to the Cincinnati Reds along with Max Wotell in return for All-Star OF Jay Bruce. However he did not play in the majors that season, finishing the year with the Louisville Bats in the International League, where he hit .265 in 24 games. Combined, he hit .274/.335/.456 in 110 games, with 24 doubles and 15 homers, 71 runs and 64 RBIs.

He was slated to play for the Colombian national team in the 2017 World Baseball Classic, but he pulled out a few days before the tournament was about to start, the victim of shoulder soreness.

Related Sites

• Dilson Herrera on mlb.com
• BR Minors page