The Detroit Tigers claimed relief pitcher Carlos Hernández off of waivers from the Philadelphia Phillies on June 16 knowing he had impressive stuff but issues with maintaining consistency.
Eight appearances later for the Tigers, the story on Hernández reads much the same.
Through 8⅓ innings with Detroit, Hernández has given up nine earned runs on 11 hits and six walks, while registering 10 strikeouts and a 9.72 ERA.
To be fair, the 8⅓ innings Hernández has so far pitched for the Tigers is a very small sample size. But it also doesn’t look that different from the 25⅔ innings he pitched for the Phillies earlier this year, where he gave up 32 hits and 15 earned runs in 25 relief appearances.
The Tigers have been using Hernández mostly in lower-leverage situations, with the ream either winning or losing by a lot in late innings. Sometimes that has worked out for Hernández, like when he struck out two batters in a clean 1⅓ innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates in his Tigers debut on June 19.
And at other times, it hasn’t, like in a recent outing against the Seattle Mariners on Friday, July 11. Entering the top of the ninth with the Tigers down 5-3, Hernández gave up consecutive singles to Jorge Polanco and Donovan Solano before walking pinch hitter Luke Raley to load the bases. Ben Williamson, Seattle’s No. 9 hitter, then drove a run in on a sharply hit single through the right side of the infield, which ended Hernández’s night.
“Baseball is like that,” Hernández said pregame on Saturday, July 12. “I can learn what I can do better from the game yesterday and then turn the page.”
That ground ball, hit a few more feet to the left or right, could have kicked off a potentially inning-saving double play and salvaged his outing. But Hernández says he doesn’t dwell on those possibilities.
“I only wanted to attack the batter,” he said. “But [the hit] happened. Today is a new day, a new start.”
Hernández got another chance the following day in the Tigers’ 15-7 blowout to the Mariners, entering in the top of the ninth inning with no outs, a runner on base and the Tigers already down by eight runs. Reliever Tommy Kahnle had just given up a bases-clearing double to Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford, so Hernández was called on for a back-to-back appearance to get the Tigers out of the ninth.
He pitched better than he did the night before, striking out center fielder Julio Rodríguez to start his appearance. He then walked slugger Cal Raleigh, throwing a wild pitch during the plate appearance, and then struck out left fielder Randy Arozarena before finishing his scoreless outing by getting Jorge Polanco to fly out to center field.
It mattered little to the game’s outcome, however.
It’s easy to see what the Tigers saw when claiming Hernández, as his average fastball velocity (97.8 mph) lands in the 94th percentile of all MLB pitchers, according to Statcast. Tigers manager A.J. Hinch says Hernández needs to work on how he mixes in his other offerings.
“The splitter has been his best pitch, and he’s not throwing it a ton,” he said. “The velo is there, the size, the human, [there’s] so much to believe in. But the usage is still a little scattered to me.”
With pitcher Sawyer Gipson-Long and outfielder Kerry Carpenter potentially coming back from the injured list after the All-Star Break, the Tigers may need to make room on the active roster. That could leave Hernández as the odd man out, and with the reliever out of minor league options, that could mean putting him on waivers.
But according to Hinch, the Tigers staff is still working with Hernández to get the best out of him.
“Our guys are continuing to try to show patience with him,” he said. “With the fastball and the split being primarily his two biggest weapons, his two best performing pitches [should be] given in the right area inside the strike zone.”
McKinstry’s surprising All-Star wish
Tigers utility player Zach McKinstry will be attending his first All-Star Game at Truist Park in Atlanta on Tuesday, July 15. But there’s another event he said he’s looking forward to even more during All-Star weekend.
“Definitely the home run derby,” he said. “You watch them on TV all the time. So yeah, I’m looking forward to that, being on the field, watching those guys do their thing.”
McKinstry said he’s especially excited to watch Pirates slugger Oneil Cruz participate in the derby.
“I came up with him with the Dodgers. And he’s grown into his body and all that, so I’m excited to see him pump some baseballs,” he said.
McKinstry was selected by the Los Angeles Dodgers in the 33rd round of the 2016 draft, and Cruz joined the Dodgers as an international signing in July of 2015. They played with each other briefly for the High-A Great Lakes Loons (in Midland, Michigan) in 2017 before the Dodgers traded Cruz to the Pirates on July 31, 2017.
Though Cruz has yet to be named to an All-Star team, he and McKinstry may cross paths once again at the derby in Atlanta on Monday, July 14.
Note: This story was originally published on Saturday, July 12, before Hernández’s appearance against the Mariners later that day. It has been updated to reflect his current stats.
You can reach Christian at cromo@freepress.com
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Tigers pitcher Carlos Hernández still hasn’t found consistency in Detroit bullpen
Reporting by Christian Romo, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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