Kelvin Herrera | |||
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Herrera with the Kansas City Royals in 2012
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Kansas City Royals – No. 40 | |||
Pitcher | |||
Born: Tenares, Hermanas Mirabal, Dominican Republic |
December 31, 1989 |||
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MLB debut | |||
September 21, 2011, for the Kansas City Royals | |||
MLB statistics (through 2016 season) |
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Win–loss record | 19–23 | ||
Earned run average | 2.63 | ||
WHIP | 1.12 | ||
Strikeouts | 360 | ||
Saves | 17 | ||
Teams | |||
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Career highlights and awards | |||
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Medal record | ||
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Men's baseball | ||
Representing Dominican Republic | ||
World Baseball Classic | ||
2013 San Francisco | Team |
Kelvin de Jesús Herrera Mercado (born December 31, 1989) is a Dominican professional baseball pitcher for the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball.
Herrera along with Wil Myers represented the Royals at the 2011 All-Star Futures Game.
Herrera was called up to the majors for the first time on September 21, 2011. He gave up three earned runs over two innings.
2012 was a breakout season for Herrera. He appeared in 76 games and posted a 2.35 ERA over 84 innings while compiling 77 strikeouts. On August 30, 2012, Herrera got his first career save.
Herrera took a bit of a step back in 2013 and spent part of the year in the minors. While pitching in the majors his ERA ballooned to 3.86 and he gave up nine home runs in 59 appearances.
In 2014 Herrera became the go-to seventh inning option for manager Ned Yost. Along with set-up man Wade Davis and closer Greg Holland, Herrera was part of one of the most prolific late inning trios in all of baseball. His ERA was 1.41, the best mark of his career, and he did not allow a home run during the entire regular season. He had his first professional at-bat in Game 3 of the World Series in San Francisco, when he struck out.
During a game against the Oakland Athletics on April 19, 2015, Herrera was ejected for throwing a pitch behind Brett Lawrie. One game prior to this incident, his teammate Yordano Ventura was also ejected for hitting Lawrie. On April 22, 2015, Herrera was suspended 5 games. Herrera decided to appeal the suspension. On April 25, 2015, Herrera was suspended an additional 2 games for his role in a brawl against the Chicago White Sox.
With an overhand delivery, Herrera throws extremely hard; his fastball averages about 98 mph and tops out at 103. He pairs his fastball with a deceptive changeup around 87–88 and an occasional curveball in the low-80s.