Teoscar Hernandez needs to improve defence to become an everyday player

By Cole Shelton

Canadian Baseball Network

It is safe to say the Toronto Blue Jays have already won the trade that got them outfielders Teoscar Hernandez and Nori Aoki from the Houston Astros for lefty Francisco Liriano at the 2017 non-waiver trade deadline. 

Hernandez has had has success this season becoming a vital part of the Blue Jays' starting outfield due to his hitting.

The native of the Dominican Republic is currently slashing .242/.301/.486 through August 16, while also hitting 18 home runs and 45 RBIs. Why we are starting to see more power and more home runs from Hernandez is quite simple. 

The 25-year-old’s exit velocity is as high as it has ever been in his major-league career while Hernandez is also getting a good launch. Hernandez has improved his exit velocity from 86.9 in 2017 to 92 in 2018 while also increasing his hard hit percentage from 35.8% in 2017 to 48.5% in 2018 a huge jump. 

Not only is he doing all this, Hernandez is also decreasing his launch angle from 19.6 in 2017 to 16.7 in 2018 which in turn is resulting in harder hit balls and fewer pop outs. 

The outfielder has increased his ground-ball rate from 28.3% to 38.9% from last season to this while decreasing his fly ball rate from 43.4% to 30.8%. While all this may be good for Hernandez, what is not good is his swing rate. Hernandez is chasing 28.4% of the time compared to 26.3% in 2017. He is also making less contact when he is chasing, as in 2017 he made contact 60.7% of the time while that number has fallen all the way down to 41.4%, according to baseball-savant.

Ultimately, even with Hernandez swinging at bad pitches and striking out more, he is still producing enough at the plate to warrant starting at a corner outfield spot. Yet where he is not delivering is in the field. 

In 2018, Hernandez has played a 839 innings in the field — through Aug. 15 — which has been split between left and right field. However, no matter if he is playing in left or right field, Hernandez is struggling. Hernandez has already committed six errors in the field, while his fielding percentage is .969. 

What gives Hernandez trouble are the balls he is supposed to make the play. According to Fangraphs, on balls that are likely to be caught — 60-90% chance —Hernandez is making 57.1% of them, compare that to Kevin Pillar who on the same chances makes the play 86.7% of the time, a huge difference. 

Pillar is known for his defence and Hernandez knows this for he is always shagging fly balls and working on his defence while the Blue Jays are taking batting practice.

With Hernandez practicing daily, he still needs to improve his play in the outfield if he wants to remain as a starter next season as the Blue Jays have several in-house options they could turn to Billy McKinney, Anthony Alford, Jonathan Davis and more. 

For the next month and a half, Hernandez needs to show improvement in the field or his job may be up for grabs come spring training.