David Jose Hernandez (born May 13, 1985) is an American former

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Modern professiona ...

relief pitcher In baseball and softball, a relief pitcher or reliever is a pitcher who enters the game after the starting pitcher is removed because of fatigue, ineffectiveness, injury, or ejection, or for other strategic reasons, such as inclement weat ...

. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

(MLB) for the

Baltimore Orioles The Baltimore Orioles are an American professional baseball team based in Baltimore. The Orioles compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. As one of the American League's eight charter ...

Philadelphia Phillies The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) National League East, East division. Since 2004, the team's home sta ...

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team h ...

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks (colloquially known as the D-backs) are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. The ...

, and

Cincinnati Reds The Cincinnati Reds are an American professional baseball team based in Cincinnati. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) National League Central, Central division and were a charter member of ...

. He attended

Cosumnes River College Cosumnes River College is a public community college in Sacramento, California. It opened in 1970, taking its name from the Cosumnes River which flows just a few miles to the south. As of Spring 2017, enrollment was at 13,091 students at its mai ...

Professional career

Baltimore Orioles

Hernandez, who is of Mexican-American descent, was drafted by the

in the 16th round (483rd overall pick) of the

2005 MLB draft The 2005 First-Year Player Draft, Major League Baseball's annual amateur draft, was held on June 7 and 8. It was conducted via conference call with representatives from each of the league's 30 teams. It is widely considered to be one of the bes ...

. Hernandez made his MLB debut against the

Detroit Tigers The Detroit Tigers are an American professional baseball team based in Detroit. The Tigers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the American League (AL) Central division. One of the AL's eight charter franchises, the club was f ...

on May 28, 2009. He went 5 innings. He gave up five hits, allowed four walks, and one earned run while striking out three. He'd remain in the Baltimore rotation for the remainder of the season, starting 19 games and finishing with a record of 4-10 with a 5.42 ERA. In innings, he struck out 68. The following season he split time between the rotation and the bullpen for the O's, finishing 8-8 in 41 games, 8 of them starts. In innings, he struck out 72.

Arizona Diamondbacks

On December 6, 2010, he was traded to the

(along with Kam Mickolio) for Mark Reynolds and a player to be named later (

John Hester John Graves Hester (born September 14, 1983) is a former professional baseball catcher. He played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. On August 28, 2009, on his major league debut, he ...

). In his first season in Arizona, Hernandez served as a closer for a time in the season, recording 11 saves. In a career high 74 games, he had 77 strikeouts in innings. He excelled the following season, posting an ERA of 2.50 with 98 strikeouts in innings. In 2013, he had a high ERA (4.48) despite posting 66 strikeouts in innings. Hernandez missed the 2014 season after undergoing

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's ...

. He came back in 2015, posting an ERA of 4.28 in 40 games.

Philadelphia Phillies

On December 9, 2015, Hernandez signed with the

. In his season with Philadelphia, he appeared in 70 games and posted a 3.84 ERA in innings.

San Francisco Giants

On February 14, 2017, Hernandez signed a minor league contract with the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...

Atlanta Braves

On March 26, 2017, the Atlanta Braves signed Hernandez to a minor league contract.

Los Angeles Angels

On April 24, 2017, the Braves traded Hernandez to the Los Angeles Angels in exchange for a

player to be named later In Major League Baseball, a player to be named later (PTBNL) is an unnamed player involved in exchange or "trade" of players between teams. The terms of a trade are not finalized until a later date, most often following the conclusion of the seaso ...

or cash considerations. He appeared in 38 games for the Angels and pitched 36.1 innings, had 37 strikeouts, and finished with a 2.23 ERA before being traded to the Diamondbacks on July 31.

Return to Arizona

On July 31, 2017, Hernandez was traded to the Diamondbacks for Luis Madero. He was 2-1 with a 4.82 ERA.

Cincinnati Reds

On January 30, 2018, Hernandez signed a two-year contract with the

. In his first season in Cincinnati, Hernandez appeared in 57 games, registering an ERA of 2.53 in 64 innings. The following season did not go so well for Hernandez as he struggled throughout the season before being designated for assignment on August 10, 2019. He was 2-5 with an ERA of 8.02 in 47 games. On August 10, 2019, the Reds released Hernandez.

New York Yankees

On August 15, 2019, Hernandez signed a minor league deal with the

New York Yankees The New York Yankees are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of the Bronx. The Yankees compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. They are one ...

. He was released on September 4, 2019.

Washington Nationals

On January 3, 2020, Hernandez signed a minor league deal the

Washington Nationals The Washington Nationals are an American professional baseball team based in Washington, D.C.. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. From 2005 to 2007, the team played in RFK Stadiu ...

. He was released by the organization on March 14, 2020.

Cleveland Indians

On July 3, 2020, Hernandez signed a minor league contract with the

Cleveland Indians The Cleveland Guardians are an American professional baseball team based in Cleveland. The Guardians compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central division. Since , they have ...

. Hernandez did not play in a game in 2020 due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

. He was released by the Indians on September 20, 2020.

International career

Hernandez attempted to join Team Mexico in the

2013 World Baseball Classic The 2013 World Baseball Classic (WBC) was an international professional baseball competition, held from March 2 to March 19, 2013. This was the third iteration of the WBC, following the two previous tournaments, held in 2006 and 2009. Unlike t ...

, but was not able to put together the proper documentation in time. After an injury to

Chris Perez Chris is a short form of various names including Christopher, Christian, Christina, Christine, and Christos. Chris is also used as a name in its own right, however it is not as common. People with the given name *Chris Abani (born 1966), Nig ...

, Hernandez was asked to join Team USA.

Scouting Report

Hernandez throws a 95 mph fastball, a 78 mph slider, and an 84 mph changeup. He is known for his high strikeout rate, which improved at every level in the minors, from 9.54 K/9 in A to 12.46 K/9 in AAA. In the minor leagues he was a flyball pitcher – 45% of balls in play were flyballs, with only 38% of them staying on the ground.

References

External links

David Hernandez
at SABR (Baseball BioProject) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez, David 1985 births Living people Aberdeen IronBirds players American baseball players of Mexican descent Arizona Diamondbacks players Baltimore Orioles players Baseball players from Sacramento, California Bowie Baysox players Cincinnati Reds players Cosumnes River Hawks baseball players Delmarva Shorebirds players Frederick Keys players Gwinnett Braves players Los Angeles Angels players Louisville Bats players Major League Baseball pitchers Mobile BayBears players Norfolk Tides players Philadelphia Phillies players Reno Aces players Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders players Visalia Rawhide players World Baseball Classic players of the United States