Cleveland Guardians 2023 prospect scouting report: #22 LHP Tim Herrin
Cleveland Guardians 2023 prospect scouting report: #22 LHP Tim Herrin
The big lefty throws gas with a big, sweeping slider and should make a big league impact in 2023.
Build, Background, and Delivery
Tall and lanky lefty. Strong, well built and a durable pitchers type frame. Long limbs. Strong lower half. High 3/4 arm angle with a lot of deception with pre follow through arm drop. Late round pick from a non-traditional DI baseball school (Indiana). Started in college some but exclusively a reliever in the pros.
What Herrin does well
Runs his heater up into the mid-high 90s from a tough arm angle. Side winding slider that has late tilt. Also has a developing cutter. Does have other pitches but that is his main arsenal. Deceptive arm angle and very hard for lefties to pick up his slider.
Where Herrin needs to improve
It’s all about command for Herrin. His control took steps forward in 2022, which is a big reason why he’s on the 40 and in the majors now. Refining his command, throwing the slider for strikes to continue to make hitters feel the need to chase it out of the zone is about it for Herrin. He may also want to continue to work on the cutter as a fastball/slider bridge pitch.
Intangibles
Herrin is a pretty calm, collected guy. He has rained hard both with the team in-season and in the offseason with other instructors using data to help build velocity and improve his control.
Future
Consistent command is about the only thing Herrin needs to be a setup type lefty. He has big stuff with good velocity on his fastball and a wide sweeping slider. If he commands the ball at the big league level, there’s no reason he can’t dominate in the seventh or eighth inning. His control may wind up being average overall but it’s still enough to make him a solid late inning option as a lefty, even if he’s not a premium setup man.
Role- 45 - Average setup type reliever.
