Ben Hernandez

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Kansas City Royals #28 prospect in 2023
  BA Grade/Risk: 45/Extreme
  
  Track Record: Hernandez was known for having the best changeup among 2020 high school pitchers, and the Royals took the Chicago-area product in the second round and signed him for a $1.45 million bonus. He got only nine starts at Low-A Columbia in 2021 due to arm fatigue, and returned there for the entire 2022 season with subpar results.
  
  Scouting Report: Hernandez pounds the zone with his 92 mph fringe-average fastball, although earlier in the year he was sitting 94-96 mph before a late-season drop in velocity. The fastball plays up because of the sink he gets on it, but he uses it too much thanks to a lack of confidence in his offspeed pitches. He needs to be more aggressive with his fringy, 76-mph curveball and throw it harder. The 83-mph plus changeup is better when he stays through it and gets shorter movement down over the plate, but it also needs to be a harder pitch. The issue with both off-speed pitches is that he struggles to throw them for strikes, so batters wait for the fringy fastball and punish it for hard contact. Hernandez gets deception in his delivery from a lower arm slot.
  
  The Future: He'll get the chance to regain his previous form at High-A in 2023. With his step back in 2022, Hernandez faces questions as to whether he would be better pitching out of the bullpen where his stuff could potentially tick up in shorter outings.
  
  Scouting Grades Fastball: 45. Curveball: 45. Changeup: 60. Control: 40
• 
  Ranked Kansas City Royals #14 prospect in 2022
  Track Record: Hernandez broke camp with Low-A Columbia at the start of the 2021 season, his first full pro season after the Royals drafted him in the second round of the 2020 draft. Arm fatigue limited the Chicago high school product to nine starts before he was shut down, although he returned for three late-season starts in the Arizona Complex League and also pitched in Kansas City’s fall instructional league.
  
  Scouting Report: The gem of Hernandez’s arsenal is a plus changeup that he throws with fade and deception, and it’s been his bread-and-butter offering dating back to high school, where it was routinely recognized as the top changeup in the 2020 high school class. Hernandez pitches off a 94-96 mph fastball that jumps out of his hand with armside run and sink, inducing plenty of ground balls. Hernandez’s curveball has always been a distant third pitch, but it showed improvement during the season. The Royals’ staff worked with him to throw it more aggressively, particularly in the lower quadrants. With the added bite, the breaking ball provides Hernandez with another weapon to pair with his fastball/changeup combination. He throws all three offerings from an easy, deceptive delivery.
  
  The Future: Reports from instructional league were very favorable, so Hernandez should be ready to go back to full-season ball in 2022. Concerns that he would be better suited for a bullpen role have been allayed by the improvement in the curveball, along with his pitchability and athleticism.
• 
  Ranked Kansas City Royals #13 prospect in 2021
  TRACK RECORD: Hernandez didn't get a high school season in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, but that didn't affect his draft stock. The Royals drafted the Chicago-area product in the second round and gave him a $1.45 million bonus to forgo an Illinois-Chicago commitment. An advanced pitcher well ahead of his years, Hernandez finally was able to don a Royals uniform for the fall instructional league program in Arizona.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Hernandez resembles fellow Royals farmhand Jackson Kowar because of his potent fastball-changeup combination. Some observers say Hernandez has the best changeup they've ever seen from a high school pitcher, and he showed in live batting practice sessions in the fall he can get swings and misses with it. His fastball is another plus pitch with easy velocity and was up to 96 mph at instructional league. A mid-70s curveball is his third pitch and is a tight, sharp offering with good depth, but he needs to throw it with more power and arm speed. Hernandez has good feel for pitching and a nice, easy delivery.
  
  THE FUTURE: He should be able to move more quickly than the normal high school product. An assignment to low Class A to start his pro career is not out of the question.

Draft Prospects

• Ranked #86 prospect in 2020 draft
  If changeups are your thing, then Ben Hernandez is your guy. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound Illinois-Chicago commit is routinely recognized as having the best changeup in the prep class, a likely future plus offering that has long been his biggest weapon. While Hernandez never got to throw for his high school team this spring thanks to the novel coronavirus, scouts did see him in February at Prep Baseball Report’s Super 60 showcase, where he touched 95 mph. That’s a tick higher than the 90-94 he showed with the pitch last summer, but scouts are still waiting on the development of a reliable breaking ball. He’s thrown a mid-70s curveball that has big depth and some solid spin, but the pitch lacks power and his arm slows down. Hernandez is an advanced pitcher, with good feel to spot his fastball and changeup, and those pitches both come out of his hand with ease and good life. It’s a clean arm action and delivery with easier mid-90s prep velocity than you’ll typically see. He is older for the class, turning 19 in at the beginning of July, but has a polished overall package headlined by two above-average or better pitches. The development of his breaking ball will determine his ceiling, and he could go off the board in the third or fourth round for most teams.

• February, 2023 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 45/Extreme
  
  Track Record: Hernandez was known for having the best changeup among 2020 high school pitchers, and the Royals took the Chicago-area product in the second round and signed him for a $1.45 million bonus. He got only nine starts at Low-A Columbia in 2021 due to arm fatigue, and returned there for the entire 2022 season with subpar results.
  
  Scouting Report: Hernandez pounds the zone with his 92 mph fringe-average fastball, although earlier in the year he was sitting 94-96 mph before a late-season drop in velocity. The fastball plays up because of the sink he gets on it, but he uses it too much thanks to a lack of confidence in his offspeed pitches. He needs to be more aggressive with his fringy, 76-mph curveball and throw it harder. The 83-mph plus changeup is better when he stays through it and gets shorter movement down over the plate, but it also needs to be a harder pitch. The issue with both off-speed pitches is that he struggles to throw them for strikes, so batters wait for the fringy fastball and punish it for hard contact. Hernandez gets deception in his delivery from a lower arm slot.
  
  The Future: He'll get the chance to regain his previous form at High-A in 2023. With his step back in 2022, Hernandez faces questions as to whether he would be better pitching out of the bullpen where his stuff could potentially tick up in shorter outings.
  
  Scouting Grades Fastball: 45. Curveball: 45. Changeup: 60. Control: 40
• December, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade/Risk: 45/Extreme
  
  Track Record: Hernandez was known for having the best changeup among 2020 high school pitchers, and the Royals took the Chicago-area product in the second round and signed him for a $1.45 million bonus. He got only nine starts at Low-A Columbia in 2021 due to arm fatigue, and returned there for the entire 2022 season with subpar results.
  
  Scouting Report: Hernandez pounds the zone with his 92 mph fringe-average fastball, although earlier in the year he was sitting 94-96 mph before a late-season drop in velocity. The fastball plays up because of the sink he gets on it, but he uses it too much thanks to a lack of confidence in his offspeed pitches. He needs to be more aggressive with his fringy, 76-mph curveball and throw it harder. The 83-mph plus changeup is better when he stays through it and gets shorter movement down over the plate, but it also needs to be a harder pitch. The issue with both off-speed pitches is that he struggles to throw them for strikes, so batters wait for the fringy fastball and punish it for hard contact. Hernandez gets deception in his delivery from a lower arm slot.
  
  The Future: He'll get the chance to regain his previous form at High-A in 2023. With his step back in 2022, Hernandez faces questions as to whether he would be better pitching out of the bullpen where his stuff could potentially tick up in shorter outings.
  
  Scouting Grades Fastball: 45. Curveball: 45. Changeup: 60. Control: 40
• April, 2022 Scouting Report
  BA Grade: 50/Extreme
  
  Track Record:: Hernandez broke camp with Low-A Columbia at the start of the 2021 season, his first full pro season after the Royals drafted him in the second round of the 2020 draft. Arm fatigue limited the Chicago high school product to nine starts before he was shut down, although he returned for three late-season starts in the Arizona Complex League and also pitched in Kansas City&#39s fall instructional league.
  
  Scouting Report: The gem of Hernandez&#39s arsenal is a plus changeup that he throws with fade and deception, and it&#39s been his bread-and-butter offering dating back to high school, where it was routinely recognized as the top changeup in the 2020 high school class. Hernandez pitches off a 94-96 mph fastball that jumps out of his hand with armside run and sink, inducing plenty of ground balls. Hernandez&#39s curveball has always been a distant third pitch, but it showed improvement during the season. The Royals&#39 staff worked with him to throw it more aggressively, particularly in the lower quadrants. With the added bite, the breaking ball provides Hernandez with another weapon to pair with his fastball/changeup combination. He throws all three offerings from an easy, deceptive delivery.
  
  The Future: Reports from instructional league were very favorable, so Hernandez should be ready to go back to full-season ball in 2022. Concerns that he would be better suited for a bullpen role have been allayed by the improvement in the curveball, along with his pitchability and athleticism.
• December, 2021 Scouting Report
  Track Record: Hernandez broke camp with Low-A Columbia at the start of the 2021 season, his first full pro season after the Royals drafted him in the second round of the 2020 draft. Arm fatigue limited the Chicago high school product to nine starts before he was shut down, although he returned for three late-season starts in the Arizona Complex League and also pitched in Kansas City’s fall instructional league.
  
  Scouting Report: The gem of Hernandez’s arsenal is a plus changeup that he throws with fade and deception, and it’s been his bread-and-butter offering dating back to high school, where it was routinely recognized as the top changeup in the 2020 high school class. Hernandez pitches off a 94-96 mph fastball that jumps out of his hand with armside run and sink, inducing plenty of ground balls. Hernandez’s curveball has always been a distant third pitch, but it showed improvement during the season. The Royals’ staff worked with him to throw it more aggressively, particularly in the lower quadrants. With the added bite, the breaking ball provides Hernandez with another weapon to pair with his fastball/changeup combination. He throws all three offerings from an easy, deceptive delivery.
  
  The Future: Reports from instructional league were very favorable, so Hernandez should be ready to go back to full-season ball in 2022. Concerns that he would be better suited for a bullpen role have been allayed by the improvement in the curveball, along with his pitchability and athleticism.
• July, 2021 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: Hernandez didn't get a high school season in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, but that didn't affect his draft stock. The Royals drafted the Chicago-area product in the second round and gave him a $1.45 million bonus to forgo an Illinois-Chicago commitment. An advanced pitcher well ahead of his years, Hernandez finally was able to don a Royals uniform for the fall instructional league program in Arizona.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Hernandez resembles fellow Royals farmhand Jackson Kowar because of his potent fastball-changeup combination. Some observers say Hernandez has the best changeup they've ever seen from a high school pitcher, and he showed in live batting practice sessions in the fall he can get swings and misses with it. His fastball is another plus pitch with easy velocity and was up to 96 mph at instructional league. A mid-70s curveball is his third pitch and is a tight, sharp offering with good depth, but he needs to throw it with more power and arm speed. Hernandez has good feel for pitching and a nice, easy delivery.
  
  THE FUTURE: He should be able to move more quickly than the normal high school product. An assignment to low Class A to start his pro career is not out of the question.
• March, 2021 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: Hernandez didn't get a high school season in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, but that didn't affect his draft stock. The Royals drafted the Chicago-area product in the second round and gave him a $1.45 million bonus to forgo an Illinois-Chicago commitment. An advanced pitcher well ahead of his years, Hernandez finally was able to don a Royals uniform for the fall instructional league program in Arizona.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Hernandez resembles fellow Royals farmhand Jackson Kowar because of his potent fastball-changeup combination. Some observers say Hernandez has the best changeup they've ever seen from a high school pitcher, and he showed in live batting practice sessions in the fall he can get swings and misses with it. His fastball is another plus pitch with easy velocity and was up to 96 mph at instructional league. A mid-70s curveball is his third pitch and is a tight, sharp offering with good depth, but he needs to throw it with more power and arm speed. Hernandez has good feel for pitching and a nice, easy delivery.
  
  THE FUTURE: He should be able to move more quickly than the normal high school product. An assignment to low Class A to start his pro career is not out of the question.
• December, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: Hernandez didn't get a high school season in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic, but that didn't affect his draft stock. The Royals drafted the Chicago-area product in the second round and gave him a $1.45 million bonus to forgo an Illinois-Chicago commitment. An advanced pitcher well ahead of his years, Hernandez finally was able to don a Royals uniform for the fall instructional league program in Arizona.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Hernandez resembles fellow Royals farmhand Jackson Kowar because of his potent fastball-changeup combination. Some observers say Hernandez has the best changeup they've ever seen from a high school pitcher, and he showed in live batting practice sessions in the fall he can get swings and misses with it. His fastball is another plus pitch with easy velocity and was up to 96 mph at instructional league. A mid-70s curveball is his third pitch and is a tight, sharp offering with good depth, but he needs to throw it with more power and arm speed. Hernandez has good feel for pitching and a nice, easy delivery.
  
  THE FUTURE: He should be able to move more quickly than the normal high school product. An assignment to low Class A to start his pro career is not out of the question.