Indians Top 50: #35 Frank Herrmann

Frank Herrmann - Right-handed Pitcher
Born: 05/30/1984 - Height: 6'4" - Weight: 220 - Bats: Left - Throws: Right

Year	Age	Team	Lvl	W	L	ERA	G	GS	IP	H	ER	HR	BB	SO	AVG	BB/9	K/9	WHIP
2006	22	Lake County	afx	4	6	3.9	26	26	122.1	122	53	8	47	89	.261	3.5	6.6	1.38
2007	23	Kinston	afa	11	5	4.01	26	26	146.0	163	65	15	28	88	.285	1.7	5.4	1.31
2008	24	Kinston	afa	0	0	11.8	1	1	5.1	8	7	1	1	4	.333	1.8	7.1	1.76
2008	24	Buffalo	aaa	0	2	1.38	2	2	13.0	11	2	1	6	14	.239	4.2	9.7	1.31
2008	24	Akron	aax	11	6	4.1	23	23	131.2	142	60	9	36	86	.275	2.5	5.9	1.36
2009	25	Akron	aax	2	1	2.93	5	5	30.2	27	10	4	5	12	.243	1.5	3.6	1.06
2009	25	Columbus	aaa	2	3	2.96	44	0	76.0	83	25	3	13	50	.279	1.5	5.9	1.26
		Totals		30	23	3.81	127	83	525.0	556	222	41	136	343	.273	2.3	5.9	1.32

History:  Herrmann was undrafted out of Harvard University, and ended up signing with the Indians as an undrafted free agent in August of 2005.  While at Harvard he was an economics major.  He was also heavily recruited as a football player coming out of high school as teams wanted him to play quarterback or safety.  At Harvard he was supposed to play both football and baseball, but ended up just playing baseball because of the demands academically.

Strengths & Opportunities:  Herrmann is a physically imposing pitcher, armed with a power sinking fastball that sits at 91-92 MPH and tops out at 94 MPH.  He also throws a slider that was recently reworked from more of a finesse-loopy slurve to a hard, power slider where it sits down in the zone at 83-84 MPH.  He also has a decent changeup that has good movement, and last season he added a splitter to the mix as a put away pitch.  He is a consistent strike thrower who may not have the best stuff, but he has always shown an ability to eat innings and get stronger late in the season or in games.  The Indians love his exceptional strength, athleticism and durability on the mound, and like his ability to control his fastball to both sides of the plate.  He really locates his fastball just about as good as anybody the Indians have, especially down and away or opposite arm side.

Herrmann's biggest need - be it as a starter or reliever - is that strikeout pitch. The ability to put hitters away is what has always kept him out consideration as a high level prospect, but the recent development of a split-finger may help change that.  His sinker is a hard fastball, so it is not a pitch that will strike out a lot of people, but he gets a lot of groundballs with it.  The splitter is more of a pitch he can throw 0-2 and 1-2 as a strikeout pitch.  He had never thrown a split-finger before picking it up midseason last year, and the development of the pitch went well.

When Herrmann first signed with the Indians they had to break him down by completely re-developing his delivery as he was more a collapse, drop and drive guy when he came into the organization, but the refined delivery has gotten him to stay taller.  He is extremely intelligent, and his aptitude is off the charts.  He has a bulldog mentality and good intelligence in coming up with a good game plan to attack hitters. He is really not intimidated by the bat as he attacks guys and comes after them with his fastball.  He very rarely beats himself, and has proven to be a guy a manager can trust with the game on the line.

The Indians moved Herrmann to the bullpen last season.  He was always a starting pitcher in the system as prior to the 2009 season he had made 78 appearances (all starts) in his three year career, but after five starts at the beginning of last season in a return trip to Double-A Akron he was promoted to Columbus and moved to the bullpen.  The move greatly increased his value to the organization as he showed he could handle the new role and be very effective coming out of the bullpen.  Pitching out of the bullpen his fastball played up some, and his ability to work quick by pitching to contact and piling up groundball outs with his sinker translated well.

Going forward, Herrmann needs to continue to develop more consistency with his secondary pitches and also develop his new splitter.  At times he can be too quick to the plate which can lead to him leaving the ball up in the zone.  He also needs to continue working on his delivery and his plan of attack on how he goes after hitters.  While he is comfortable throwing his changeup to lefties, he needs more work on throwing it to right-handers to keep them off the plate.

Outlook:  Herrmann came into the organization very raw and with little understanding of how to "pitch", and in just four seasons he has adjusted well to the professional game and has made huge strides in learning the intricacies of pitching.  He really is a guy who has already exceeded expectations and is someone who the Indians feel will continue to do that.  He really grinded it out in the lower levels of the system as a starter, and he has put himself on the map by being durable, consistent, and slowly his secondary pitches have come as he has always had good fastball ability.  The move to the bullpen could ultimately be what opens the big league door to him as he is considered a big league bullpen depth option and could potentially make his major league debut sometime this upcoming season.  He will open the season in the bullpen at Triple-A Columbus.

Photo courtesy of Tony Lastoria

Frank Herrmann MinorLeagueBaseball.com page

Frank Herrmann Baseball-Reference page

Frank Herrmann MinorLeagueSplits.com page

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