Darwinzon Hernandez

Organization Prospect Rankings

• 
  Ranked Boston Red Sox #6 prospect in 2020
  TRACK RECORD: Signed for just $7,500 in 2013 after an injury sidelined him early in the 2013 international signing period, Hernandez emerged as a standout power pitcher. Significant control issues clouded his potential as a starter, but he showed dominant stuff once unleashed as a bullpen weapon in the big leagues in mid-July.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Hernandez comes at hitters with an aggressive delivery, combining a low three-quarters slot with elite extension to create deception layered upon tremendous pure power. His 94-98 mph four-seam fastball features unpredictable movement based on fingers that sit on the side of the ball rather than behind it. Some compare his fastball to that of Josh Hader. Hernandez's low-80s slider has sharp, late, two-plane bite, generating ground balls and swings and misses. He employed a changeup and curveball as a starter but left those pitches on the shelf in the bullpen. The lefthander will go through multi-batter stretches when he loses the strike zone, but out of the bullpen he limited the harm of his free passes by striking out bunches of batters.
  
  THE FUTURE: The Red Sox have committed to Hernandez as a bullpen option. So long as he can throw enough strikes and stay healthy, he looks like a potential late-inning reliever.
• 
  Ranked Boston Red Sox #3 prospect in 2019
  Track Record: An elbow injury just before the opening of the 2013 signing period scared some teams off Hernandez, but the Red Sox signed him for $7,500. His stuff has improved steadily and he has dominated at times. He struggled badly with his control at high Class A Salem early in 2018, prompting questions about whether he could remain in the rotation. A dominant second half resulted in a promotion to Double-A Portland.
  
  Scouting Report: Hernandez works from a low three-quarters arm slot with a mid-to-upper-90s fastball, a slider that shows plus potential and a curveball that is solid when in the strike zone. He loses his delivery and release point at times, resulting in control struggles and pitch inefficiency that have convinced some that he will be a reliever, where he worked in Double-A and the Arizona Fall League. The Red Sox want to see if Hernandez can mix in a few changeups for strikes, which could help him excel for a couple turns through a lineup.
  
  The Future: If Hernandez clicks, he could be a potential Jake McGee-type reliever who can blow away opponents with his fastball. Others see a Robbie Ray-type starter--if he can cut down his walk rate. Hernandez will return to Double-A, this time as a starter.
• 
  Ranked Boston Red Sox #6 prospect in 2018
  Signed out of Venezuela for $25,000, Hernandez has shown stuff matched by few others in the Red Sox system. He has struck out more than a batter per inning as a starter across three consecutive levels, including a strong performance at low Class A Greenville in 2017, where his success was a product of stuff, because his abilities remained relatively unrefined. Hernandez makes hitters uncomfortable with his low three-quarters arm slot, coming at them aggressively with 93-96 mph fastballs that top out at 97. His fastball can be so overwhelming to lower-level hitters that it may have slowed the development of his secondary pitches. Though his primary breaking pitch has been a curveball, his arm slot has long seemed suited to a slider. He used the pitch sparingly for most of 2017 before, in his final outing, leaning heavily on it in a dominant performance. While his walk rate remains high (4.3 per nine innings in 2017), it represented a major improvement over 2016 (6.7). Poor control is a major stumbling block after walking 4.3 per nine innings in 2017. Hernandez's fastball and slider give him the look of a pitcher with at least late-innings potential–lefties hit .134 with a 37 percent strikeout rate against him–and if he can improve his control, he has a chance to be a mid-rotation starter.
• 
  Ranked Boston Red Sox #30 prospect in 2017
  Signed for just $7,500 out of Venezuela in 2013, Hernandez jumped from the Dominican Summer League in 2015 to short-season Lowell for his U.S. debut in 2016. He showed a fastball that featured power up to 96 mph and natural cut that, in concert with the deception in his low three-quarters delivery, generated swings and misses in volume. He struck out 26 percent of batters in in the New York-Penn League in 2016 to rank ninth among pitchers with at least 40 innings. While Hernandez has worked as a starter to date, given the dominance of his fastball and his work-in-progress secondary offerings, it's easier to imagine him in a future relief role. He switched from a curveball to a slider, and he could be taught a split-finger fastball in the future. The cut on his pitches suggests the potential to emerge as a full-inning pitcher as opposed to a left-on-left guy, though in addition to developing a consistent secondary offering, Hernandez will also need to improve his well below-average control. He recorded the highest walk rate (16 percent) in the NYPL in 2016, but that should improve as he continues his physical maturation.

Minor League Top Prospects

• 
  Ranked Carolina League #13 prospect in 2018
  Under manager Salem manager Joe Oliver and the rest of his coaching staff, a number of the team’s top prospects got significantly better during the 2018 season. Bobby Dalbec and C.J. Chatham both made strides, but no one improved more than Hernandez. Hernandez seemed destined for a quick move to the bullpen early in the season when he couldn’t control his delivery and failed to make it out of the second inning four times in 12 starts. But as the all-star break arrived, Hernandez slimmed down and found his control. After posting a 5.40 ERA in the first half, he went 6-1, 1.88 with an improved walk rate in the second half. His improved control came with a newfound ability to locate his fastball and an improved delivery that had significantly less recoil. The new-and-improved Hernandez has a plus 92-95 mph fastball that touches 97, although he still needs to prove he can locate it to arm-side. His curveball also flashes plus but when he doesn’t finish his delivery he struggles to control it. His changeup needs further development. Hernandez could still end up in the bullpen, but his second-half improvement gives him hopes to start.

• July, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: Signed for just $7,500 in 2013 after an injury sidelined him early in the 2013 international signing period, Hernandez emerged as a standout power pitcher. Significant control issues clouded his potential as a starter, but he showed dominant stuff once unleashed as a bullpen weapon in the big leagues in mid-July.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Hernandez comes at hitters with an aggressive delivery, combining a low three-quarters slot with elite extension to create deception layered upon tremendous pure power. His 94-98 mph four-seam fastball features unpredictable movement based on fingers that sit on the side of the ball rather than behind it. Some compare his fastball to that of Josh Hader. Hernandez’s low-80s slider has sharp, late, two-plane bite, generating ground balls and swings and misses. He employed a changeup and curveball as a starter but left those pitches on the shelf in the bullpen. The lefthander will go through multi-batter stretches when he loses the strike zone, but out of the bullpen he limited the harm of his free passes by striking out bunches of batters.
  
  THE FUTURE: The Red Sox have committed to Hernandez as a bullpen option. So long as he can throw enough strikes and stay healthy, he looks like a potential late-inning reliever.
• February, 2020 Scouting Report
  TRACK RECORD: Signed for just $7,500 in 2013 after an injury sidelined him early in the 2013 international signing period, Hernandez emerged as a standout power pitcher. Significant control issues clouded his potential as a starter, but he showed dominant stuff once unleashed as a bullpen weapon in the big leagues in mid-July.
  
  SCOUTING REPORT: Hernandez comes at hitters with an aggressive delivery, combining a low three-quarters slot with elite extension to create deception layered upon tremendous pure power. His 94-98 mph four-seam fastball features unpredictable movement based on fingers that sit on the side of the ball rather than behind it. Some compare his fastball to that of Josh Hader. Hernandez's low-80s slider has sharp, late, two-plane bite, generating ground balls and swings and misses. He employed a changeup and curveball as a starter but left those pitches on the shelf in the bullpen. The lefthander will go through multi-batter stretches when he loses the strike zone, but out of the bullpen he limited the harm of his free passes by striking out bunches of batters.
  
  THE FUTURE: The Red Sox have committed to Hernandez as a bullpen option. So long as he can throw enough strikes and stay healthy, he looks like a potential late-inning reliever.
• July, 2018 Scouting Report
  At times, Hernandez features dazzling stuff, combining mid- to upper-90s fastballs with both a slider and a curveball that can get swings and misses along with a changeup that has shown potential as a fourth pitch. Yet his strike-throwing has regressed in 2018, resulting in considerable outing-to-outing consistency and amplifying questions about whether he can start. If not, however, it’s not hard to imagine a reliever with late-innings potential.
• December, 2017 Scouting Report
  Track Record: Signed out of Venezuela for $25,000, Hernandez has shown stuff matched by few others in the Red Sox system. He has struck out more than a batter per inning as a starter across three consecutive levels, including a strong performance at low Class A Greenville in 2017, where his success was a product of stuff, because his abilities remained relatively unrefined. Scouting Report: Hernandez makes hitters uncomfortable with his low three-quarters arm slot, coming at them aggressively with 93-96 mph fastballs that top out at 97. His fastball can be so overwhelming to lower-level hitters that it may have slowed the development of his secondary pitches. Though his primary breaking pitch has been a curveball, his arm slot has long seemed suited to a slider. He used the pitch sparingly for most of 2017 before, in his final outing, leaning heavily on it in a dominant performance. While his walk rate remains high (4.3 per nine innings in 2017), it represented a major improvement over 2016 (6.7). The Future: Hernandez's fastball and slider give him the look of a pitcher with at least late-innings potential, and if he can improve his control, he has a chance to be a mid-rotation starter.