Arizona Diamondbacks 2024 Player Review: Jose Herrera

Herrera started the year in the minors but made an impact over the second half of the season and achieved a career goal

Sep 21, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Jose Herrera (11) celebrates hitting home run against the Milwaukee Brewers in the fifth inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images / Michael McLoone-Imagn Images

This article is part of a series chronicling the individual seasons of players who appeared for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2024.

Reviews for players who still have rookie eligibility for 2025 will appear in our prospect season reviews. Players are presented in the reverse order of their aWAR, an average of Baseball Reference and FanGraphs WAR.

Jose Herrera, Catcher, Age: 27

2024 Contract Status: Pre-Arbitration, $740,000

Catcher Jose Herrera base stats and Average WAR for the 2024 Arizona Diamondbacks and in his career. / Jake Oliver

The Diamondbacks signed Jose Herrera in July 2013 as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela. He was one of the higher-regarded international players that year and among the top catchers. Herrera started the year in the minors but made an impact over the second half of the season in MLB.

The switch-hitting catcher was left off the 2024 Opening Day roster and sent to Triple-A Reno after he was beaten out for the backup job by Tucker Barnhart.

Over the first two-plus months of the minor league season, Herrera had an average year at the plate and behind the dish as he mentored Adrian Del Castillo and worked to get back to the D-backs major league roster.

Over those 36 games with Reno, Herrera hit .260 with a .714 OPS. He had 33 hits and eight extra-base hits including two homers. He walked 19 times with only 23 strikeouts.

Then, Gabriel Moreno got hurt on June 21st with a sprained thumb against the Phillies. He was placed on the 10-Day IL and that opened up the roster spot for Herrera to get back to the Big Leagues.

Once back, he was never sent back down for the rest of the season. Over the next ten days or so, he split time behind the plate with Barnhart and showed a new penchant for hitting, especially in important situations.

Once Moreno came back, his improved play made Barnhart a casualty cut as the Diamondbacks Designated him for Assignment to keep Herrera up to back up Moreno behind the plate.

Over Herrera's first 15 games from June 22nd to July 31st, he hit .267 with an OPS of .686 and eight hits, two doubles, five RBI, four walks, and only seven strikeouts as he showcased his ability to work counts, not strikeout, and drive in runs.

However, from August 1st on, Herrera began to slump at the plate as he was forced into catching more games due to Moreno's second stint on the IL, this time with an adductor strain that would keep him out for over a month.

Herrera handled the lion's share of games over rookie Adrian Del Castillo but the bat fell off into a slump over this span.

Over these 22 games, Herrera hit just .200 with 11 hits, seven RBI, three walks, and an eye-popping 16 strikeouts. His swing and miss grew while his contact rate fell. His OPS was a floundering .492.

However, he did manage to do well over his final four games with three hits, including his first career MLB home run that was a laser shot to the right field bleachers in Milwaukee. It was a memorable and career highlight for the catcher who had taken two plus seasons to get his first home run.

Overall in Arizona, Herrera played in 42 games, one more than last year, and had a homer, 13 RBI, four doubles, a triple, nine walks, 27 strikeouts, and 22 hits.

His strikeout rate of 23.7% was below average but the best of his career while he walked 7.9% of the time, close to his average rate over the three partial seasons he's played in. His wRC+ was 70 with 100 league average, but that was by far the best of his career but still left a lot to be desired.

However, there's far more than offense that goes with catchers such as calling games, catcher ERA, throwing out base runners, and more. Herrera excelled with Zac Gallen and a couple other pitchers as he helped them be the best they could be.

However, Herrera struggled with other pitchers according to catcher ERA and it began the question of how important catchers are to certain pitchers and vice versa.

Over 283.2 innings, Herrera had a 4.76 catcher ERA, third best on the team, but that number would be far higher especially if he had not worked with Gallen as much as he did. Still, he performed admirably under difficult conditions with a pitching staff that was out of sorts.

Related Content: A Deep Look at D-backs Catcher's ERA is Quite Illuminating

His blocks above average was a -2 indicating he was below average at blocking the ball but he did well enough framing, rated +2 according to Baseball Savant. Herrera also had strong pop times but it didn't translate to throwing out baserunners. He was rated -1 runs above average in throwing out runners.

By all accounts, Herrera is a terrific clubhouse presence and leader who is beloved by his teammates and has helped develop numerous players. He is a valued member of the team and has plenty of supporters among his teammates who all speak highly about him.

2025 and Beyond

Herrera barely has over a year of service time meaning that he would need to spend both the 2025 and 2026 seasons completely in the Majors in order to reach arbitration at the earliest point after the 2026 season. He's under club control for at least the next five years if not longer.

Herrera will continue to be a backup catcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Whether that is up in the bigs or serving as Triple-A depth depending on how Del Castillo develops and whether the team signs anyone in the off-season or trades for one.

Herrera is still young, just entering his age 28 season. With less than a full season's worth of playing time under his belt, there is still plenty of time for him to improve. Many backup catchers are late bloomers, and that could be the case with Herrera.

Regardless, one can expect to see Herrera back at Salt River Fields in February working with the pitchers and pushing for a spot on the Opening Day roster. There remains the potential for Jose Herrera to develop into a quality backup catcher capable of catching 40 or so games and helping the team win plenty of games.

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