People have asked me if I’ve been taught to like baseball or if I just liked it. I said I learned to love it. I haven’t been forced into anything. It’s easier that I have a dad and brother who have done it before me. They didn’t put any pressure on me. They didn’t say I had to do anything. But seeing my brother and my dad succeed — and being competitive — I wanted to do the same.
The Barnstormers, more than any other Atlantic League team, like to roll the dice with inexperienced players. They took a chance on Steve Van Note in 2005. They gambled on Pat Cassa this spring. They signed Dave Adamchick last month.
The latest in this line of experiments is OF Jordan Herr. The son of former manager Tom Herr will make his professional debut with his hometown team this weekend.
Jordan Herr knows what’s ahead of him. He knows coming to the Atlantic League is a huge jump. He has watched games from the stands and has taken batting practice with his new teammates. He thinks he’s ready. That’s why he signed the contract.
“I fully believe in my ability,” he said. “I understand that I might be the youngest guy in this entire league. It’s a challenge, but I look forward to challenges.”
In order to assess Herr’s chances of succeeding at this level, we have to look at how he has performed in the past. The only data we have is from his two seasons as a college player at Pittsburgh.
| Year | Avg | HR | RBI | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 2007 | .263 | 4 | 20 | .312 | .438 | .750 |
| 2008 | .274 | 5 | 32 | .398 | .417 | .815 |
The plusses:
*Herr showed improvement in his second season. His on-base percentage made a big jump, which is a good indication of improved strike-zone judgment.
The minuses:
*Herr’s slugging percentage was lower than you’d like considering he was playing with an aluminum bat. He also had 110 strikeouts in 328 at-bats. That’s an alarming total.
The Barnstormers’ decision to sign Herr is unprecedented in their four-year history – and perhaps in the history of the Atlantic League. While Lancaster has shown an inclination to value young talent, it has never offered a contract to a position player this young. Herr turned 22 this month. Van Note and Adamchick were both 25 when they made their debuts.
Manager Von Hayes and head of baseball operations Keith Lupton are gambling on potential. They like what they saw during Herr’s batting practice session on Wednesday and think it can translate into game success. Herr, as you might expect, is a terrific athlete. He has above-average speed and a great throwing arm. He stole 22 bases in 34 attempts during his college career.
“We’ve got a few days to work with before the All-Star break,” Hayes said. “I’d like to see what he can do a little bit. I’m not going to be afraid to throw him out there. I like his stroke. I’m sure he can give us good, solid defense out there too – which is what we need.”
If Herr can succeed as an everyday player at this level, it would be a remarkable accomplishment. Because of his lack of experience, he’s probably better suited for the Van Note role of 2005. With Tom Herr using Van Note in optimum platoon situations, the utility man produced these stats.
| Year | Avg | HR | RBI | OBP | SLG | OPS |
| 2005 | .295 | 4 | 20 | .395 | .430 | .825 |
Herr, whose older brother Aaron is in Triple-A with the Reds, was always considered a borderline pro prospect. The Chicago Cubs thought enough of him to make him a 41st round draft pick in 2007. The outfielder decided to return to college instead of signing. He wasn’t taken in this year’s draft.
Signing with the Barnstormers is a calculated gamble for Herr, who could have gone back to Pitt for one or two more seasons. He also could have played in a lower level indy league, such as the Frontier League. The lure of playing in Lancaster kept him close to home.
“It was tough because I won’t have the college experience anymore,” Herr said. “But what I’ve always wanted is a pro experience. I’m getting that opportunity. There’s no guarantee that if I went back to college I would have been drafted again. Having a chance to do this is a dream come true, really.”
Herr’s development will be a story to follow the rest of the way. He represents an interesting test case for the Atlantic League. If he succeeds, he’ll almost certainly get signed because of his age and name recognition. If he doesn’t succeed, he’ll serve as a reminder that there’s no substitute for experience.
Jason,
Great reporting, as usual. It may be exciting to see someone green playing the game.
GL Jordan. Knock’em dead.
Good luck Jordan. Two Panthers being on the team cant be all bad.!!
Welcome Jordan see you at the Clip Monday.Knock em dead tonight
I saw Jordan and his famous Dad many, many years ago at Toys R Us ( yea, I said a long time ago). They were just your typical family looking for that special toy… now look at him… I wish you all the best dressed in a Stormer Uni.
Destiny!
Welcome to the team Jordan!!!
Welcome Jordon to the stormers family.
Welcome to the Stormers, Jordan! Best of luck!!!
How crazy! Tommy gets denied a manger job having experience bringing the team a championship, and now his son with no experience is on the team?
Lets conspire:
- Is this a sign that Tommy is coming back? and possibly soon? You know, a gradual infiltration.
- Is this Jordans way of getting back at dad for not letting him go to spring break at South Beach?
- Or is this just an odd way of Lupton saying to Tommy, “Hey, but your kid can be on the team!”?
PS. Look at my last comment as balance. Ying and Yang. If I don’t add a little negative sarcasm, the blog will overload on positive energy and horribly crash once things go awry again.
Quite frankly Mr B, I feel you should change your user name to Mr Insider. I think you scooped both Wilson and Guarente.
The true irony here is that Jordan is now on the team and Ross and Lance are currently on the DL, since they lived with him for the prior 3 seasons. I wish him well.
I guess he can buy the beer now!
Jason,
More than his college stats (aluminum bat), you should look at his CPL stats (wood bat) from last summer. He played in 18 games (started 13) and hit .217 (10/46) with two doubles, zero homeruns. and 2 rbi. He did steal 5-7 bases.
Hopefully he’ll have more wood bat success with us!
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southernalfan,
That’s a fair point, although 46 at-bats is a small sample size. I covered the NECBL for three summers and even the great college hitters struggled with wood bats at first. The first two weeks of the season were like the Dead Ball Era.
The Barnstormers signing Herr is the equivalent of taking a 40th-round pick and putting him right in High-A. Teams don’t do that because they consider it too big of a leap in competition. Herr could be productive — like Van Note was — if they use him in optimum situations, against lefties or the Kevin Mannix-types. I think that’s the plan, once they find another outfielder.
Talk about an awkward position for Von managing the son of the former manager who wanted his job. Especially since there probably is a good chance that it might not all work out perfectly.
“Dad, Von never even gave me a chance!, plus it’s his fault my swing got out of whack because of his hitting instruction. You promised I would have a good shot at proving myself, if you don’t fix this I’m running away!!”
At some point, Jordan will be “traded” to the FL or the NL for a PTBNL or he’ll be traded to Gateway to complete the trade for Scott Patterson 3 years ago.
I thought Scott was traded for Scott in that deal?
Good luck, Jordan. Your presence may help bring some more local fans from Hempfield to the ball park!
College may be much nicer now that you don’t have to worry about competing anymore during the year.
Word was circulating the other day when the season ticket holders got to observe batting practice this past week. The management was all hush-hush (shhhhh)… I love baseball!
dadTB