The Nationals have signed Orlando Hernandez to a minor league contract, reports CSNWashington.com's Mark Zuckerman at Nats Insider. El Duque, the half-brother of Livan Hernandez, will report to the team's Florida spring complex and may pitch for Triple-A Syracuse at some point this season.
The Rangers released the veteran right-hander last July, and at the age of 44, it seemed unlikely that Hernandez would catch on with another club. However, we heard this spring that he was still working out and throwing, in hopes of signing somewhere this season. At that point, Hernandez's velocity was sitting at about 82-83 mph, according to Reds scouting director Chris Buckley.
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Probably one of my favorite live baseball moments was when I went to the Mets/Cubs game at Wrigley in 2007, El Duque threw an eephus pitch to Cliff Floyd that didn’t even register on the radar gun.
Was it a strike? Did he hit it? I’ve always loved the eephus pitch but have never seen one thrown in a game.
Floyd took the pitch and it was called a strike. I don’t know if it was a true eephus pitch (I never got the chance to see the replay on TV), may have just been a 12-6 curve he threw really slowly but it was probably the closest thing to an eephus pitch in recent years.
Sounds like the eephus pitch is now gonna be his standard changeup.
Next up, Oil Can Boyd.
lol wait so livo is the younger hernandez and the older one throws even slower? interesting….
El Duque on the Yankees threw an eephus pitch to A-Rod on the Rangers that was hit about 500 feet. A few years later El Duque on the Mets threw an eephus pitch to A-Rod on the Yankees that was hit just about as far.
Are we sure he’s 44? He could pass for 70, but he could 58 as far as we know with all the age confusions he’s had over the years.
A fastball slower than Zito????
From a righthander
this is about a logical signing as the Wang signing.
I don’t know. I think Wang can still be a decent pitcher but really el duque gotta retire.
man that dude must be as old as Julio Franco now.
man that dude must be as old as Julio Franco now.
Love the fact that this guy still wants to pitch. Says a lot about his guts. He will be forever revered by White Sox fans for his job in the ’05 ALDS against Grafannino, Varitek, and Damon.
True that, such an unforgettable moment in an unforgettable season
Sadly, this wasn’t what Nats fans had in mind when we somebody said “we’re making moves now that the international market!”
The Redskins field Clinton Portis, Larry Johnson, Willie Parker, and have a jones for Brian Westbrook, the all 2005 fantasy team.
The Nationals outdo them by signing Orlando Hernandez from the 2000 fantasy team.
It’s only a minor league deal, Syracuse is trying to get to the playoffs, and he could be an interesting story for September callups when attendance falls off the cliff come Redskins preseason should he pitch well. But still, hope there are some off the field reasons for doing this.
He’s done.
Sadly, this wasn’t what Nats fans had in mind when we somebody said “we’re making moves now that the international market!”
The Redskins field Clinton Portis, Larry Johnson, Willie Parker, and have a jones for Brian Westbrook, the all 2005 fantasy team.
The Nationals outdo them by signing Orlando Hernandez from the 2000 fantasy team.
It’s only a minor league deal, Syracuse is trying to get to the playoffs, and he could be an interesting story for September callups when attendance falls off the cliff come Redskins preseason should he pitch well. But still, hope there are some off the field reasons for doing this.
He’s done.