Shelton: Jays' Hernandez struggling to rediscover timing at the plate

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Teoscar Hernandez has yet to rediscover his timing at the plate since his return from an oblique injury. Photo: Toronto Blue Jays/Twitter

May 24, 2022

By Cole Shelton

Canadian Baseball Network

Teoscar Hernandez isn’t looking like the All-Star and slugger that he has been in recent years and that is due to the outfielder still struggling to find his timing after his injury list stint.

Due to the lockout, players had a shortened spring training and many had said hitters timing would be off early but that wasn’t the case for Hernandez. In April, he played in six games, and in 19 at-bats, he had a .316 average with one home run and three RBIs. He looked like he was picking up where he left off last season but he then suffered an oblique injury that caused him to miss 21 games and since then, he has struggled with his timing.

In 14 games since his return, Hernandez is just 5-for-55 entering Tuesday night’s game and has struck out 16 times. His on-base percentage is a woeful .123 while his slugging percentage is .164.

This season, he is whiffing on fastballs at 21.1% and that increases to 41.4% on breaking balls and 65.2% on off speed pitches. Last season, those numbers were 26.4, 38.9, and 38.4%, respectively. Meanwhile, his launch angle has also suffered as he has a -12 against offspeed and is below 10 in both fastballs and breaking pitches.

Along with whiffing on balls, when he does make contact, it is not good contact. He is topping the ball 51% of the time which is nearly 20% higher than any other year. He’s only making solid contact 7.8% of the time, according to Baseball Savant.

Once, and if Hernandez finds his timing again, there’s no question he will start to have more success at the plate. Yet, as of right now, he continues to whiff and chase pitches. But the history of Hernandez shows this is something that won’t last as these are career-worst numbers that he has put up since coming back from a long stint on the injured list.

For now, Hernandez will continue to be an everyday player as he looks to overcome the struggles like several other Blue Jays hitters.