Tyler Herb Has A Plan On The Mound

Consistency pretty well defined the final three-plus months of Tyler Herb’s 2017 season at Double-A.
 
The 6-foot-3 righthander worked at least six innings in 16 of his last 17 starts. He allowed three earned runs or fewer in 15 of those 17 starts.
 
That consistency was one reason the Giants acquired him from the Mariners in July as the player to be named for righthander Chris Heston, whom they dealt to Seattle in December 2016.
 
In 10 starts with the Giants’ Richmond affiliate, Herb put together a 2.76 ERA in 65.1 innings.
 
“As well as he pitched for us in Richmond,” general manager Bobby Evans said, “it made it obvious to us that he’s a guy (who’s) on the come.”

In November, the Giants put Herb on the 40-man roster and he got to experience his first big league spring training this year.
 
And to think 2017 didn’t begin well for Herb. He struggled for the first month of the season before having what he described as a game-long conversation with David Franco, the Mariners’ mental-skills coach.
 
Herb said Franco “kind of came up with something that got me locked in, got me to kind of take every pitch as its own, take every batter as its own little task for the day. I thought I found a lot of success in that.”
 
Evans believes Herb, whose fastball registers in the low 90s, can have success with “a plus breaking ball. You see it at times; he just has to get more consistent with it . . .
 
“He’s smart on the mound. He knows what he’s trying to do. He has a plan.”
 
Evans’ plan for Herb was to begin 2018 at Triple-A Sacramento, with a chance for a late-season callup.
 
Herb comes from Lykens, Pa., a town of fewer 2,000 people. The Mariners chose him in the 29th round as a senior sign from Coastal Carolina in 2014.
   
As he gets closer to the majors, Herb seems to possess the ability to keep things in perspective.
 
“I think to be drafted in the first place, it was crazy,” Herb said.

GIANTICS
 
• The Giants re-signed Heston in January. As a rookie, he threw a no-hitter for San Francisco against the Mets in June 2015.
 
• The Giants have an exhibition game against Sacramento on March 24.