Arkansas Travelers pitcher Tyler Herb is back where he was four years ago, not exactly the kind of progress a minor-league baseball player dreams of making.
Except Herb, 29, is fine with it.
He was the starting pitcher in the Travelers' 1-0 loss to the Springfield Cardinals on Sunday in front of an announced crowd of 4,031 at Dickey-Stephens Park in North Little Rock.
Herb took the loss, allowing one run in six innings, but that didn't stop him from being happy to be here.
Herb said he, along with another veteran pitcher, reliever Darin Gillies, are happy to be back in the Mariners' organization after being displaced during last year's covid-19 minor-league shutdown.
"We were on the outside looking in," said Herb, who went 6-4 with the Travelers in 16 starts in 2017 before being traded to the San Francisco Giants organization. "We're both like, 'let's take one last ride.' "
Herb spent a year in the Giants organization before getting traded to the Baltimore Orioles for outfielder Mike Yastrzemski, but he did not flourish with Baltimore.
He sat out 2020 and was preparing to re-start his career with the Independent Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League when the Mariners picked him up earlier this week and sent him to North Little Rock.
Travelers first-year Manager Collin Cowgill said he liked what he saw from Herb on Sunday, even if it was in a loss that ended a five-game winning streak.
"Fantastic," Cowgill said. "He had a whole lot of groundball outs, a whole bunch of strikes. He gave us a chance to win. That's all you can ask for."
The only blip for Herb came in the top of the fifth inning when Cardinals left fielder Nick Plummer took advantage of a hanging curve ball and hit it 411 feet, landing over the right-field wall, for the only run of the game.
"I was struggling with my curve ball today," Herb said.
It didn't stop Herb from feeling good about himself after his first taste of competition since 2019.
"I was just smiling the whole time," said Herb, who allowed 4 hits and 1 run while walking 1 and striking out 4 over 64 pitches. "I just like competing. Better to be here than home."
The Travelers were unable to provide Herb with run support, after scoring 41 runs in the first five games of the series, including 17 in Saturday's night's victory.
"It just the way it goes," Cowgill said of the Travs' one-hit performance against Springfield pitchers Andre Pallante, Edgar Escobar and closer Grant Black. "We had good at bats. ... They executed their plan well. We did the same. We weren't quite good enough."
Cowgill said the loss doesn't diminish what the Travelers did on their opening homestand, finishing with a 7-4 mark.
"I feel great," Cowgill said." I love our team. Guys so easy to coach. They show up at the yard every day ready to play. They're just a joy to be around. Our coaching staff's got a good thing going."
When asked about the joy Herb showed in his return to professional baseball, Cowgill said his attitude fits right in with the rest of the team.
"They're all pretty happy just to be playing baseball," Cowgill said. "You can tell how much they love the game."
Few more than Herb.
"We're really excited to have him," Cowgill said. "Glad to see him go out there and have success today."
Herb, a 29th-round draft pick in 2014 out of Coastal Carolina, said it doesn't matter that he received no run support and took the loss Sunday.
"I was really happy with my mentality," he said. "Everything else, I can't really control."