José Gregorio Herrera (born February 24, 1997) is a Venezuelan professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2022.

Career

The

signed Herrera as a free agent on July 8, 2013. Herrera made his professional debut in 2014, spending time with the

Arizona League Diamondbacks The Arizona Complex League Diamondbacks are a professional baseball team competing as a Rookie-level affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Arizona Complex League of Minor League Baseball. The team plays its home games at Salt River Fields a ...

and the rookie-level

Missoula Osprey The Missoula PaddleHeads are an independent baseball team of the Pioneer League, which is not affiliated with Major League Baseball (MLB) but is an MLB Partner League. They are located in Missoula, Montana, and play their home games at Ogren Pa ...

. In 2015, Herrera spent the year with the AZL Diamondbacks, hitting .304/.415/.380 in 24 games with the team. He returned to Missoula the following season, posting a slash of .277/.351/.438 with 5 home runs and 18 RBI in 36 appearances. Herrera split the 2017 season between the AZL Diamondbacks and the Single-A

Kane County Cougars The Kane County Cougars are a professional baseball team located in Geneva, Illinois, and are members of the American Association of Professional Baseball, an official Partner League of Major League Baseball (MLB). They play their home games a ...

, with whom he spent the majority of the year. In 66 games between the two affiliates, Herrera slashed .227/.291/.318 with 1 home run and 29 RBI. On April 10, 2018, Herrera was suspended 50 games after testing positive for methylhexaneamine and oxilofrine, which were both listed as banned substances under the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. Herrera only played in 38 games in 2018 due to the suspension. In 2019, Herrera split the year between Kane County and the High-A

Visalia Rawhide The Visalia Rawhide are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Visalia, California, and have played their home games at Valley Strong Ballpark since their ...

, slashing .252/.383/.371 with 5 home runs and 43 RBI in 90 total games. Herrera did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. He split the 2021 season between the Double-A

Amarillo Sod Poodles The Amarillo Sod Poodles, nicknamed the Soddies, are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Amarillo, Texas, and play their home games at Hodgetown in downtow ...

and the Triple-A

Reno Aces The Reno Aces are a Minor League Baseball team of the Pacific Coast League (PCL) and the Triple-A (baseball), Triple-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Reno, Nevada, and play their home games at Greater Nevada Field, w ...

, batting a combined .258/.364/.422 with career-highs in home runs (11) and RBI (57). The Diamondbacks added him to their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

following the season on November 8, 2021. Herrera made the Diamondbacks' Opening Day roster in 2022 as the backup to starting catcher

Carson Kelly Carson Franklin Kelly (born July 14, 1994) is an American professional baseball catcher for the Chicago Cubs of Major League Baseball (MLB). He has previously played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Arizona Diamondbacks, Detroit Tigers, and Texas ...

. He made his MLB debut on April 9, 2022, as the starting catcher against the

San Diego Padres The San Diego Padres are an American professional baseball team based in San Diego. The Padres compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League West, West Division. ...

. In 47 games during his rookie campaign, Herrera hit .189/.250/.207 with no home runs and 5 RBI. In 2023, Herrera played in 43 games for the Diamondbacks, batting .208/.296/.257 with no home runs and 7 RBI. Herrera was optioned to Triple–A Reno to begin the 2024 season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Herrera, Jose 1997 births Living people Águilas del Zulia players Amarillo Sod Poodles players Arizona Diamondbacks players Arizona League Diamondbacks players Hillsboro Hops players Kane County Cougars players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela 21st-century Venezuelan sportsmen Missoula Osprey players People from Cojedes (state) Reno Aces players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Visalia Rawhide players