Hernandez has high praise for Joey Bats
Young Blue Jay says fellow Dominican native Bautista has been an idol, mentor
When young Teoscar Hernandez was still playing in a small town in the Dominican Republic, waiting to turn professional with the Astros, one of his major-league idols was Jose Bautista, a fellow Dominican who already was a breakout star.
In 2010, Bautista had hit 54 homers for the Blue Jays the season before Hernandez turned pro and was on his way to becoming the iconic figure of Joey Bats.
Now, six years later, Hernandez is auditioning to be one of the candidates that will have a chance next spring to replace Bautista, his aging 36-year-old hero in right field. Awkward? Teoscar does not find it so. “The day that I got here (Sept. 2), Bautista came to me and told me a lot of things,” Hernandez said prior to Thursday’s game against the Royals at the Rogers Centre. “A lot of people were talking about Bautista not being long any more here. But he’s helping me a lot — in the field, off of the field. How to get better in my defence, get better in my hitting and get better away from the field, get to be a better person. For me, he’s one of the awesome guys that I ever met. He’s every day telling me something new.”
Hernandez was a happy man on the field after Thursday’s batting practice. With him were six family members, all of them wearing blue No. 37 Hernandez jerseys. They had flown to Toronto for the homestand from the Dominican, safe from the fallout of hurricane Maria.
Among the family group were Teoscar’s parents, two brothers, his girlfriend and his sister-in-law. They had received Canadian travel visas two days before the storm was predicted to hit, and even though damage to Cotui was not as extensive as some areas on the north shore, they were thrilled to be safe in Toronto.
“I had six, seven months where I didn’t see them,” Hernandez described, in leaving home for spring training in Florida in February.
“For me, seeing them here giving support, now that I’m with them I play harder because I want to show them that I can do this and I can stay here. I think they’re proud of the job that I’m doing.”
It was a challenge changing organizations after more than five years. He was included with outfielder Nori Aoki from Houston for lefthander Francisco Liriano. One aspect that eased the transition was the presence at Triple-A Buffalo of his close friend, right-hander Luis Santos. They have known each other since their teenage years, each struggling to find a team, each turn- ing pro in 2011 at the relatively (for the Dominican) late ages of 19, 20. They were quickly reunited as Bisons.
“In the Dominican when you try to sign, it’s a little bit hard,” Hernandez explained. “We’ve passed a lot of things together — a lot of good things, a lot of bad things, sad moments, good moments.
“As soon as I got the trade he texted me right away, ‘Hey, you’re going to come (to Buffalo). We’re going to live together. We’re going to go to the big leagues together.’ We talked about that the whole season. I told him, ‘Hey, keep working. Keep doing the great things. We’re going to be in the big leagues.’ ”
When Hernandez speaks of the travails of reaching the majors as a native of the Dominican Republic, there are other more mortal issues that come to mind. Last week, young Orioles prospect Miguel Gonzalez was killed in a car accident on the island, while across the field the Royals are still grieving the loss of young star Yordano Ventura, killed last winter. In all, at least seven professional players have been lost to traffic accidents in the Dominican since 2014.
Hernandez is of that same generation that has been affected by tragedy. He is well aware of the pitfalls of feeling young and immortal, but he believes that stemming the grisly tide is a shared responsibility.
“Some of the guys (learn), some of the guys don’t really pay attention to those things,” Hernandez said. “I think major-league baseball is doing a pretty good job of trying to (stop) that. I think the players have to put a little more and try to not get into those (situations) because there’s a lot of trouble, especially in our country. In my country, little kids drive motorcycles. It doesn’t matter your age, you grab one, you drive it. We as players, we’re the ones that have to take care of those things.”
As far as his own future with the Jays, the club is affording him every opportunity to earn an everyday role, likely as a Bautista replace- ment. If it does happen, Hernandez believes Joey Bats will deserve much of the credit.
“He’s made some history here,” Hernandez said. “I loved him watching him play. You know, he’s having a bad year, but for me it doesn’t matter because I know the player that he is. I know the person that he is now. He’s one of the best.
“I want to be like him, of course. Every player, every outfielder wants to be like that guy, good teammate, good player, good person. I’m not really thinking about (replacing him). I just keep playing and doing my best and trying to get better every day and see what happens next year.”