Peter Diana, Post-Gazette Yoslan Herrera: Pitched two perfect innings in the Pirates' 8-1 rout of Manatee Community College yesterday at McKechnie Field in Bradenton, Fla.

BRADENTON, Fla. -- The ball exits the hand with the seams spinning like a fastball.

It gives the initial illusion of rising above the level of the pitcher's hand, then dives downward violently and lands in the catcher's mitt, but only after a slight horizontal pull away from a right-handed hitter.

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It is Yoslan Herrera's variety of the pitch commonly called the circle-change, and it is, in a word, unfair.

"If that ball goes where he wants it to ... it's going to be tough to get a bat on it," said Heberto Andrade, the Pirates' bullpen catcher. "It really moves."

"There is certainly movement there," pitching coach Jim Colborn said. "Looks like it could be a good pitch for him."

One of five, potentially.

Herrera has shown early this spring that he has plenty of ground to cover to get to Pittsburgh. His start in the Pirates' 8-1 exhibition rout of Manatee Community College yesterday -- two perfect innings -- marked his first competitive pitching since he defected from Cuba in July 2005. His delivery, visibly rusty, has required extra attention from Colborn and bullpen coach Bobby Cuellar. His cultural assimilation will take time, too, given his severely limited English. All those factors are likely to have him start out with Class AA Altoona.

At the same time, when someone can shuffle that circle-change into a deck that also includes a biting curveball, a 92-mph fastball, a split-fingered fastball and a slider, and that repertoire is combined with what coaches and teammates describe as an intelligent, intensely involved manner, it is easy to see some stops getting kicked out on the way to Major League Baseball.

"He seems to be a very bright, young man who wants very much to succeed," Colborn said. "To me, that's probably what you need the most in his situation, where he's coming from another country and has zero English skills -- zero -- but does have off-the-charts willingness and desire."

Colborn grinned.

"I guess he's already proven that by hopping in a boat and rowing through the surf to get here."

Herrera actually rode in a power boat to flee his homeland, but the point about the personality stands: He often is seen engaging teammates in discussion, sometimes with hand signals, other times with help from someone else who speaks Spanish, but always with an eager effort.

"I'm having fun. A lot of fun," Herrera said yesterday through a translator. "I don't understand much. One time, I had to ask somebody to explain one of the coach's drills. But it's been OK. It feels very good to be here."

He seems to have taken the teachings of Colborn and Cuellar in stride, too.

"It's been two years since I pitched, so I know I have to work on stuff every day."

The focus has been consistency in all mechanics. Although Herrera seems naturally gifted at disguising his pitches with similar arm motions, other aspects have been out of whack.

"His delivery is still young and a little bit raw," Colborn said. "There are some important things that we can show him to smooth things out. That and his English ... those are the two things that will be better by the time he gets to the big leagues."

The Pirates have no timetable for Herrera's stay with Altoona, but they speak in cautious tones of his initial workload, so it could be a while.

"The important thing for him is to just pitch every fifth day," director of player development Brian Graham said. "This is someone who needs to get back into a rhythm after so much time off."

Despite Herrera's spotless line yesterday at McKechnie Field, he surely was out of sync. He struck out two, but he twice ran up three-ball counts and missed -- badly in some cases -- on 11 of his 32 pitches against the collegiate competition.

Peter Diana, Post-Gazette