This week my focus returns to the mound as hurler David Hernandez gets the nod as this week’s SotW. Hernandez has been a strikeout machine during his short professional stint, striking out 47 hitters in 41 2/3 innings last year for the Aberdeen IronBirds and following that with 24 K’s in 19 innings thus far this season. That number is good for sixth place on the SAL leaderboard.
While he’s winless thus far this season, he’s had a bit of hard luck as far as support – losing a 4-1 decision on opening day in West Virginia and taking a 6-2 loss to Hickory on April 18. In another start against Lake County, he gave up 3 unearned runs in a 5 inning stint and left the game trailing 3-2, only to have Delmarva score 7 times the next inning for a 9-3 win he wasn’t credited with. But that’s baseball, and thus far Hernandez has managed to keep Delmarva in the game with each start.
David started his professional career last season in Aberdeen after being the O’s 16th round pick in the 2005 draft. He hails from Cosumnes River Junior College in California, one of the four juco picks Baltimore signed from last year’s crop of draftees. Originally drafted out of Elk Grove (CA) HS by the Colorado Rockies in 2003 (29th round) he opted to go the juco route instead to improve his draft position. Hernandez will turn 21 on May 13, another of some very young faces Delmarva has this season (five players on the opening day roster were under 21.) Hopefully he’ll turn his season around a bit and start collecting some W’s to go with the K’s.
