Toronto Blue Jays: Why Teoscar Hernandez is here to stay
By Thomas Hall
Last season the Toronto Blue Jays had the third-oldest roster. They needed to get younger, but also stay competitive. Teoscar Hernandez is the perfect example of a player capable of helping in both areas.
Teoscar Hernandez was called up to the Toronto Blue Jays on Apr. 13, and since then he’s been doing nothing but help the team win games. In seven games this season, Hernandez has hit three home runs and 10 RBIs, to go along with a .343 AVG, and 1.138 OPS.
Hernandez has played so well that manager John Gibbons has had to rework his lineup every game to keep him in. Whether it’s been in left or right field, the 25-year-old has been moving all around the outfield, so that he can continue to produce in the number two spot in the lineup.
Teoscar Hernandez continues to earn his spot 💪https://t.co/Z4n6gYfOxA
— Yahoo Sports Canada (@YahooCASports) April 21, 2018
The one aspect you will hear fans talk about, is that Hernandez strikes out too much. And yes, last season he did strike out at a high rate.
However, in a short period, Hernandez has made adjustments to his approach at the plate, becoming a more disciplined and patient hitter. The improvements have certainly shown on the stat sheet, as Hernandez has only struck out nine times in 38 plate appearances this season.
According to Fan Graphs, Hernandez has a 26.5 percent strikeout rate, which is down 10 percent from his time last season with the Blue Jays. At first glance, your thinking he’s still striking out more than he should.
But when you look at his OBP and see he’s getting on base more this season. Hernandez has improved from a .294 OBP to a .301 this season.
Teoscar Hernandez is an absolute baseball spectacle of the first order. And now that he’s showing an eye at the plate and strong bat control you can let your imagination run wild.
— Ari Shapiro (@ari_shapiro) April 21, 2018
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The Blue Jays will have to make a decision on Hernandez when Josh Donaldson returns to the lineup.
They will be forced to send a player to the minors to open a spot, and the easiest move would be to send Hernandez back down to the minors. The obvious issue with this is Hernandez has shown he deserves to stick in the Majors.
If you don’t send him down, then who should it be? If you ask me, the right move would be to send down Lourdes Gurriel Jr.
The problem with that is it would shorten the depth in the infield for the Blue Jays and leave Yangervis Solarte as your only infielder to fill in off the bench.
However, this would allow Hernandez to flourish as an everyday player. Gibbons would have to continue to rotate Hernandez around the outfield. But this would continue to give the Blue Jays a big boost to their offence.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bh4j6TIgVGY/?hl=en&taken-by=bluejays
Whatever the Blue Jays decide to do when Donaldson returns, look for Hernandez to still be with the team when that day arrives.
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What do you think the Blue Jays will do with Hernandez? Leave your comments below. You can also share your thoughts with Thomas on Twitter.