Second-year reliever Tim Herrin showed what he’s made of when it mattered most
One of the most reliable arms in Cleveland’s 2024 bullpen was lefty sophomore Tim Herrin. Drafted by Cleveland in the 29th round of the 2018 draft, Herrin spent just three full seasons in Cleveland’s minor league system (no Minor League Baseball was played in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic) and had an up-and-down rookie season resulting in a 5.53 ERA and 1.482 WHIP across 27.2 innings. While those numbers aren’t anything special, it was the 32 strikeouts he collected that caught the Guardians’ eye.
On October 2, 2023, Herrin was called up to the Major League team once more and hasn’t looked back since. March was an extremely easy month for the then-27-year-old. Playing in just two games, he pitched two full innings without giving up any hits or runs. Just one walk was all hitters could manage to get against him in the early days of the season.
It wasn’t until the team’s eighth game of the season - his fourth appearance - that a team finally learned how to get a hit off of him. While he struck out two hitters in one inning of work, he gave up one walk and one hit which led to a runner scoring. That boosted his ERA to 2.25 which, spoiler alert, was his highest mark of the season. The rest of the month saw him give up just three walks and four hits across 8.1 innings while striking out 11. He ended the month with a 0.73 ERA after giving up just the one run.
He got consistent work throughout the month of May, pitching in 12 games. Three more scoreless outings brought his ERA down to 0.59 before the Detroit Tigers got him for two runs (one earned) on May 7th. His next six appearances were scoreless with just two hits and one walk. He gave up another run on May 28th, but still managed to finish the month with a 1.14 ERA on the season to that point.
June through August, the heat of the season, were extremely successful for Herrin. He appeared in 38 games across those three months, taking on 31 innings. He collected 30 strikeouts while giving up 19 hits and 10 earned runs. This may sound like a lot, but he only gave up an earned run in six of those 38 games. In this span, his ERA never reached higher than 2.25 and it did not even reach the 2.00 mark until August 12th.
September was his most successful month by far, coming at a time when his team needed him most. In the final month of the regular season, Herrin appeared in 11 innings across 12 games and gave up just one earned run on seven hits. He struck out an astonishing 16 hitters, lowering his season ERA to 1.92 on the final day. He was charged with just one loss over the season while earning five wins and 16 holds.
As the postseason rolled around, he proved just how reliable he could be in high pressure situations. Appearing in all but one postseason game, he totaled 8.1 innings of work. While he walked a single batter in each of his first three games, he struck out just as many and did not give up any runs. He was only able to complete 0.1 innings in game four, giving up two hits, but was still credited with a hold in the eventual 5-4 Cleveland win.
When the lights were the brightest, the win-or-go-home game ALDS game five, he faltered ever so slightly. He gave up one run and one hit which eventually led to an earned run scoring. However, the Guardians held on for a 7-3 victory and Herrin was even awarded the win.
Game one of the ALCS was the only postseason game in which he did not appear. In game two, he was right back to it for a full inning of work in which he gave up a hit, struck out one, and didn’t allow anyone to score. Game three saw him give up a hit and a walk, again without allowing either to score. Game four saw one hit and one strikeout, another scoreless outing.
The biggest moment of his career to date came in game five. The Guardians were tied with the Yankees 2-2 in the seventh inning. The Guardians had to win or their season was over. With a runner on first base, manager Stephen Vogt called on Herrin. His first pitch was a perfect 96.6 mph fastball on the outside corner for a strike. His second pitch was a slider way outside to even the count. The next pitch was thrown perfectly. 95.4 mph fastball just outside of the zone that Yankees catcher Austin Wells tapped to shortstop Brayan Rocchio who got the out at second and quickly tossed the ball to first baseman Josh Naylor for the double play.
When the lights were brightest, Tim Herrin put his sunglasses on and saved the inning. He stayed in the game for the eighth inning, collecting two ground outs and a line out. While the Guardians couldn’t pull off the win and their season came to an end, Tim Herrin proved that he can get the job done when he is needed most. He made it through the entire season without hitting the Injured List and was a perfectly reliable middle-to-late inning reliever. After just his second season in Major League Baseball, there’s no telling just how high his ceiling will go in the next few years. All I know is that Cleveland is lucky enough to be able to find out.
