Dilson Herrera: 2015 NL Champion Mets Back Up Second Baseman (2014 - 2016/ 2019)

Dilson Jose Herrera was born on March 3rd, 1994, in Bolivar Columbia. In 2010 the five foot ten second baseman was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

In 2012 & 2013 Dilson would play at the A ball level for the Pirates. Late that summer he was traded to the New York Mets in the deal that sent Marlon Byrd & John Buck to Pittsburgh. Herrera ended the year playing at A ball Savannah for seven games.

In 2014, Herrera would begin the year with A ball St. Lucie batting .307 which got him promoted to AA Binghamton. In 61 games there he hit .340 showing some power hitting 10 HRs with 17 doubles & 48 RBIs. He also stole nine bases & hit three triples. 

Herrera was being scouted as a line drive gap to gap hitter with quick bat speed.

On August 29th, 2014 when Daniel Murphy got injured, Herrera made Mets history, becoming the first Mets player in team history to start the season at single A ball & make it to the big-league club. 

MLB Debut: Herrera made his debut that night playing second base & batting seventh going 0-3 in a 4-1 Mets win over the Philadelphia Phillies. The next night he got his first career hit, coming in a 7-2 loss to the Phils.

On August 31st, Herrera singled off Philadelphia's Justin DeFratus in the bottom of the 8th inning, with the Mets leading 5-4. The hit scored Kirk Nieuwenhuis with what turned out to be the winning run after the Phils scored once in the top of the 9th.

Multi RBI Game & First Career HR: The next day in Miami he hit his first career HR, it came off the Marlins Henderson Alvarez. Dilson added a two-run triple later in the game, having a big three RBI game. 

On September 5th, he hit another HR coming in a big 14-5 Mets win over the Cincinnati Reds. 

On September 20th in what was his last game of the season, he went 2-3 with another HR & a pair of RBIs. 

At just 20 years old, Herrera certainly impressed in his short stint in the majors. In 18 games he hit .220 (13-59) with three HRs, a triple, six runs scored & 11 RBIs.


2015 Mets NL pennant Season: Herrera was invited to his second Mets Spring Training in 2015. In his first few games he struggled at the plate but his defense was certainly noticed. Herrera went in 2015 ranked by Baseball America as the #46 prospect.

After starting the season at AAA, Herrera was brought up to the Mets on May 1st.

Multi RBI Game: On May 6th, Dilson had a three hit, three RBI game, hitting a two run HR off the Orioles Brad Brach & adding an RBI base hit in a 5-1 Met win over Baltimore at Citi Field. 

On June 14th, he hit another HR, in a 10-8 Mets win over the Atlanta Braves. 

Herrera was playing a good defense but struggled at the plate batting just .195 at the end of June. With the Mets in need of runs at that point in the season he was sent down to AAA Las Vegas. There he hit .327 with 11 HRs & 50 RBIs in 84 games.

Herrera returned to the Mets in mid-September as they were about to clinch the NL East. 

On Sunday September 27th, the day after the Mets clinched the NL East title in Cincinnati, Herrera played second base, collecting three hits with a two run HR off Keyvius Sampson in an 8-1 Mets win.

In 2015 Herrera played in 31 games, hit three HRs with three doubles & six RBIs batting .211. He played 29 games at second base posting a .963 fielding %, making two errors & turning 19 double plays. He did not play in the post season.

2016 Mets Wild Card Season: In the off season, the Mets parted ways with post season hero Daniel Murphy. They acquired Neil Walker from Pittsburgh to be their main second baseman. They did not have the confidence in the 21-year-old Herrera to be a starter, although he was expected to play in a backup role. Unfortunately for him, that didn't quite work out.

Herrera spent most of the season at AAA Las Vegas, playing in 86 games batting .276 with 13 HRs 24 doubles & 55 RBIs. On August 1st, 2016, he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in exchange for Jay Bruce. 

Post Mets Career: Originally Brandon Nimmo was to be included in the trade, but the Reds were concerned with his medical records. Instead, they demanded Herrera, it turned out to be a good thing for the Mets.

Herrera spent the rest of the season at AAA Louisville batting .266. 

2017: In 2017 he only played in 68 games at AAA Louisville batting .264. In 2018 Herrera would make it back to the Reds playing in 53 games batting .184. 

Resigning with the Mets: At the end of November 2018, the Mets signed him again as a free agent. 

In 2009 he was invited to Spring Training where he was seeing regular playing time but batting just .125 through his first six games.

He would start the year playing at AAA Syracuse hitting 24 HRs with 64 RBIs in 117 games. That summer he was released & was resigned by the Mets, but then got released for the final time in September. 

In December 2019 he was signed by the Baltimore Orioles. He appeared in just three games for Baltimore that season.

Retirement: Dilson went on to play in the Mexican, Colombian & Independent Leagues thru 2024.