The Rangers are set to pick out the contract of outfielder Elier Hernandez from Triple-A Spherical Rock, as first reported by Hector Gomez of Z101 Sports activities (Twitter link). The 27-year-old can be making his Main League debut when he will get right into a sport for the primary time.
Signed by the Royals for a $3.05MM bonus again in 2011, a then-16-year-old Hernandez was thought of on the time to be one of many prime prospects on that summer time’s worldwide class of beginner free brokers — if not the prime prospect. On the time of his signing, that $3.05MM bonus was the biggest any staff had ever given to a world beginner outfielder, however by way of elements of eight seasons within the Kansas Metropolis group, Hernandez by no means developed as hoped.
Baseball America ranked Hernandez among the many Royals’ prime 30 prospects every season from 2012-18, topping out at No. 11 in 2014. It took Hernandez seven years to succeed in the Triple-A degree, and the offensive numbers he posted alongside the best way have been typically beneath common. He continued to battle with the Royals’ Triple-A affiliate in Omaha by way of the 2019 season, posting a mixed OPS south of .700 in 152 video games there over the course of two campaigns.
Hernandez, now in his second season with the Rangers group, appears to be like to lastly be tapping into that dormant potential. Although his 2021 numbers between Double-A and Triple-A have been a continuation of his pedestrian manufacturing within the Royals’ system, he’s damaged out with a .295/.364/.546 slash by way of 234 plate appearances with Spherical Rock in 2022. He’s linked on 11 homers and doubles alike, including in 4 triples, 9 stolen bases (in 11 tries) and a number of the finest stroll and strikeout charges of his profession (8.7% and 19.5%, respectively).
As Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning Information factors out, the Rangers are set to face a number of left-handed starters on this weekend’s collection towards the Mariners, so Hernandez will give them a right-handed persist with play matchups. Texas already has an open spot on the 40-man roster after transferring Mitch Garver to the 60-day injured record earlier within the week, and it appears Hernandez would be the yet-unannounced corresponding transfer accompanying that shift. As such, they’ll solely have to make a corresponding 26-man roster transfer to accommodate Hernandez’s ascent to the Majors.
That stated, Grant provides that righty reliever Jonathan Hernandez, who’s been out all season whereas rehabbing from Tommy John surgical procedure, is anticipated to be activated in some unspecified time in the future this weekend, so the Rangers will probably have to make an extra 40-man transaction within the coming days.
