Starling Heredia

Position: OF
Level: Class A
Affiliate: Great Lakes Loons
League: Midwest League
Born: 02/06/1999 (Age: 25)
Height: 6'2"
Weight: 200
B/T: Right / Right
Acquired: Signed as international free agent July 2, 2015 (LAD)

Prospect Spotlight

Signed for $2.5 million out of the Dominican Republic, the Dodgers aggressively promoted Heredia to Low-A to close the 2017 campaign where he struggled with swing-and-miss. The husky outfielder is back with Great Lakes in 2018 and once again, he’s showing significant contact issues with a K-rate above 35 percent. I saw Heredia May 18-20 and May 24-27 as part of Great Lakes crowded outfield rotation.

Heredia’s size and physique stand out. He’s thick in the middle and pudgy and does not appear to be the athlete that he actually is. Heredia has a lightness to his feet, digging out average run times. The speed aids his corner outfield profile, and he shows good instincts and reads, grading to 55, albeit with a below-average LF-only arm lacking carry or accuracy. His bat will need to play and there is 55 future raw power as a building block. Converting that power to games will be a challenge for Heredia without significant improvement at the plate. He swung at almost everything and was fed a heavy diet of spin out of the zone he simply couldn’t get his bat too. His swing is noisy with a shoulder dip to create plane, adding barrel drag and plate coverage issues. He does keep his weight back, and the bat is quick enough to find fastballs, but in this look Heredia was overmatched.

After this look, I can’t project Heredia above a FV 40 bench bat. I like his chances to reach that projection based on the well-rounded set of tools, but as a LF-only guy, he’s going to have to hit. He will get to 50 game power, and I am trusting his athleticism to aid his hit tool adjustments enough to make him a 40 bat, passable in a bench role.