Prospect News: Rosell Herrera Moved To Center Field

The Colorado Rockies move top shortstop prospect Rosell Herrera to center field during fall instructional camp.

Ranked as the number three prospect in the Rockies system (and 86^th overall) by Baseball America in 2013, shortstop prospect Rosell Herrera has been working out at center field during the Rockies fall instructional program and it appears that position change is permanent.

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The prospect, who spent most of the year in High A Modesto, had begun working drills in center field last fall but a wrist injury prevented the position move this past season. That injury hindered Herrera’s stat line but didn’t stop him from playing in the SiriusXM Futures Game over the All-Star Break and also impressing manager Walt Weiss.

In an interview with MLB.com’s Thomas Harding, Weiss raved “He’s tall and wiry and runs very well—a toosly kid. He’s quite projectable, when you look at him and his age.”

Herrera’s move to center field, coupled with Trevor Story’s uptick in innings at second and third base, may be an indication of the Rockies’ confidence in superstar shortstop Troy Tulowitzki staying with the organization for many years. Moving Herrera, your top prospect in the position, into a crowded but uncertain outfield position shows a prerogative to keep your major league shortstop in his seat and develop the system around that being a constant.

But it may also be that the Rockies system has now become littered with good infield prospects that may crowd each other out. Both Cristhian Adames and Emerson Jimenez made the Rockies top 20 prospect list last season and both had good seasons in the minors (especially defensively). The Rockies also drafted Forrest Wall with the 35th pick in the 2014 draft and he appears to be a special prospect moving forward after a great debut season in Grand Junction.

…Weiss raved “He’s tall and wiry and runs very well—a toosly kid. He’s quite projectable, when you look at him and his age.”

Regardless of the reason, the outfield now gains a speedy Herrera and the number of top prospects in the grass grows again, with top prospect and former first round pick David Dahl also playing center field, as well as top 10 prospect Raimel Tapia. That’s not even mentioning that the Rockies seem to have three very good young outfielders playing in the majors already in Carlos Gonzalez, Charlie Blackmon, and Corey Dickerson.

The Rockies seem to be stacking the deck in their favor at the position, just in case a couple don’t pan out or a move is made that lightens the outfield in the organization. Herrera adds diversity in that he is a switch hitter as well as being a decent threat on the basepaths (21 SB in 2013), but if the injury lingers or his small frame leads to more injury problems, he may be the odd man out.

There’s not a lot of room for error in his new position as he grows into a major league contributor. If Herrera pans out, the Rockies may have a player very similar to the skill set of Dexter Fowler. Though, the former may have more pop to his bat and potential for more success beyond the short term prosperity Fowler had in Denver before being moved to Houston this past winter.

Whatever Rosell Herrera’s fate is, Weiss is a noted fan of the 22-year-old Dominican and that’s a good start. “I can see he’s already pretty tall, but I think he’s still growing and he has room for growth physically. It’s a live body and a live arm. He can play, that’s for sure.”

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