Hernandez arrives with high expectations
Key piece of Liriano trade could start in 2018 >ONLINE
Friday night’s Jays-Orioles game at Camden Yards ended after the Star’s deadline. Full report at thestar.com. More baseball, S2-3 BALTIMORE— For a guy Teoscar Hernandez has never teamed up with, Francisco Liriano sure has played a big role in the young outfielder’s career.
It was the former Blue Jay left-hander who gave up the first big-league hit by Hernandez — a home run in the second at-bat of his debut as a Houston Astro. As he rounded the bases, the Houston playby-play announcer declared: “That’s going to make a splash.”
Little more than a year later, Liriano is an Astro and Hernandez is looking to make another splash — in the Blue Jays outfield.
Hernandez was the key return in the July deadline deal that sent Liriano to the American League West-leading Astros. That he was seen as a prime target by the Jays in exchange for an established 33year-old starter has given the outfielder a boost of confidence.
“I got traded for a big guy.” TEOSCAR HERNANDEZ ACQUIRED FOR FRANCISCO LIRIANO
“I got traded for a big guy,” said Hernandez, called up by the Jays in time to start in right field in Friday night’s game against the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. “Liriano is a good pitcher. He’s an all-star pitcher (in 2006). It makes me feel good, because if they trade me for that guy it means they want me here and they want me as part of the team.” So, no hard feelings, Houston. The Dominican Republic native — now the No. 5-ranked prospect in the Jays organization, according to the MLB Pipeline website — had a breakout year in 2014 before struggling in 2015 and getting his mojo back a year later. He was one of five players to get the call from the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons as major league roster expand for September, from 25 up to as many as 40.
As a leading candidate for a bigleague job next year, Hernandez is one of the players the team and fans are most looking forward to seeing.
Manager John Gibbons says Hernandez will see a decent amount of playing time over the final weeks of the season, and not just in right field.
“He can play everywhere,” Gibbons said before Friday night’s game. “We talked to him earlier about where his best spot was. He said centre. We’ll give (Kevin) Pillar a day off every so often. He’ll play some centre field, maybe a little left.”
Getting Hernandez into the lineup right away was not a strategic move. Gibbons had already decided to give everyday right fielder Jose Bautista a day off. But the Jays were also well aware of the newcomer’s recent hot streak at the plate.
After a slow start in Buffalo — 3for-34 with no home runs and 17 strikeouts — Hernandez heated up over the final nine games: 11-for-26 with five homers among eight extrabase hits while knocking in 12 runs.
Hernandez has been too busy to worry about what next year might bring, after the trade from Houston’s Triple-A affiliate, the Fresno Grizzlies — where he was slashing .279/ .369/.485 — and working to rediscover his timing in Buffalo before earning the call-up, which he said he learned about on Wednesday.
“I don’t want to think about that yet,” he said. “I’ve just got to keep working hard and trying to get better every day.”
He adds, however, that 100 at-bats with the Astros last season should help him cope with the pressures of the big leagues this time around.
Asked which players have influenced his career, he mentions Houston mentors Jose Altuve, Carlos Correa and Carlos Beltran. He hopes to add a few more names, the likes of Bautista and Josh Donaldson.
“I’m just going to see what they do,” he said, “and try to follow them.”