TOWER GROVE — Once among the highly regarded young pitchers in the St. Louis Cardinals system, righthander Tyler Herron, a first-round pick in the 2005 draft, has been released by the club, farm director/vice president Jeff Luhnow confirmed this afternoon.

Herron had been a member of the Class AA Springfield rotation, where he was 2-4 with a 4.34 ERA. In 45 2/3 innings this season the righthander had walked 22 and struck out 37. He is one start removed from throwing seven innings against Tulsa, allowing two hits, no earned runs and walking four. But Herron had seen a drop in his velocity and an overall dip in quality and command of his pitches. His performance was cited as a reason for the release.

“He was not progressing the way we needed or expected him to,” Luhnow wrote in a text message. “We need to give the valuable innings to other players who deserve the opportunity.”

The Cardinals selected Herron 46th overall in the 2005 draft, that same draft that netted them Colby Rasmus (28th), Tyler Greene (30th), Mark McCormick (43rd) and then Herron, the latter two of which came in the supplemental (or sandwich) round. Drafted out of a Palm Beach-area high school, Herron received a $675,000 signing bonus. Herron was a top 10 prospect in Baseball America’s 2008 Prospect Handbook — a list that I help put together with the editors of the trade publication — and he ranked 23rd in the current edition of the list. Herron was viewed by coaches and outside scouts as a young pitcher with a polished delivery.

Some, however, felt that he took a step back in 2008 when aggressively promoted to Class AA Springfield. Herron went 5-5 with a 5.20 ERA in 15 starts for the S-Cards in 2008, and he allowed 101 hits and 29 walks in 81 innings against 59 strikeouts. Opponents hit .304 against him last year.

Still, he went to winter ball and did well enough as a reliever that the Cardinals invited him to major-league spring training. He didn’t do poorly, but didn’t impress.

Herron’s performance this season was statistically reassuring. He went a span of six consecutive appearances pitching at least five innings and allowing two or fewer earned runs. In two of the starts — including the start mentioned above against Tulsa — he completed at least seven innings. The 22-year-old righthander lost his last start, allowing five earned runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. He struck out seven and walked two.

His release opens innings for a pitcher like David Kopp, who was recently promoted.

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