The Red Sox have designated left-hander Darwinzon Hernandez for assignment, per a team announcement. He’ll be the corresponding 40-man roster move to accommodate the newly signed Justin Turner, whose previously reported contract is now official.
Hernandez, 26, both misses bats and piles up walks in droves. He’s fanned 32.3% of his opponents over the life of 85 1/3 big league innings but has also walked a whopping 17.7% of the batters he’s faced. Despite that dearth of command, he was able to notch a tidy 3.17 ERA in 48 1/3 innings from 2020-21, but Hernandez was rocked for 17 runs (16 earned) in just 6 2/3 innings at the big league level this past season. Overall, he owns a 5.06 ERA in the Majors.
Despite his struggles to locate his pitches, Hernandez is a 26-year-old lefty who’s averaged just north of 95 mph on his fastball and avoided hard contact quite nicely when opponents put the ball in play against him (with the exception of 2022’s small sample). Hernandez also has a minor league option remaining, which could further broaden his appeal to other teams.
The Red Sox will have a week to trade Hernandez or attempt to pass him through outright waivers, which would allow them to keep him in the organization without dedicating a 40-man roster spot to the hard-throwing but command-challenged southpaw.
Woo that was a close one…. I thought they might get rid of my buddy Brasier
Braiser has dirt on someone. At this point I swear theyd DFA Devers before Braiser
Maybe Darwinson’s 21.50 ERA just might have something to do with being waived.
Devers…. That’s small fish… just be happy Kraft doesn’t have to choose between him and Belichick… you saw what happened to Tom…
Youre part of the I hate Belichick Squad too. OMFG. Does your tribe have meetings somewhere or is it just WEEI is your God?
Holy cow…… HG no hating here whatsoever!!!( Yankees given) Astros come in close 2nd but just a little fun from a Redsox fan in the land of Lincoln….
Future Phillie.
I have nightmares at the thought of that
Do you think Bloom can make a mistake on par with the administration that failed to timely tender contracts to Fisk, Lynn and Burleson and accidentally DFA Devers instead? I’ve been trying to support him but couldn’t resist typing this…
Does Brasier have nudes of Henry or Bloom that he’s holding over their heads?
Hernandez’s ERA 21.60 might have something to do with it.
It probably has more to do with the 3.49 that Brasier had from 2018-2021. Or the 2.25 ERA he had in September.
Thanks Joe…. I feel I’m all alone on a island with just my # 70 jersey sometimes..lol
Joe – I laugh every time you pull rudimentary stats like Reliever ERA out of your ass to try and justify Bloom’s every move, even though you’re well aware of analytics.
Bra’s WPA is -1.6 and his Hard Hit Rate is 43%
Darwinzon’s WPA is -.6 and his Hard Hit Rate is 38.5%
Darwinzon’s SO9 is 14 and Bra’s is 9
But you keep doing you.
Darwinzon’s SO9 is 14 and Bra’s is 9
============================
You’re using K/9 and ignoring K/W. I liked Darwizon as much as anyone when he first came up, but ignoring his BB/9 is an epic fail.
Darwinzon career WHIP 1.74
Brasier carreer WHIP 1.21.
Super neat strike out per 9 stats though.
FPG as everyone pointed out Hernandez inability to find the strike zone was his biggest problem. Pretty much every indicator (WHIP K/W BB/9) shows this. what’s really funny to me and most likely everyone else when you ignore the most obvious issue a player has and the stats to support it to continue your losing argument.
Joe – I know we both agreed on Darwinzon in the past, we both liked him. Sure the control is a problem. But don’t you think if that’s the ONE problem a pitcher has, it’s something that is worth working with the pitcher on?
Ever heard of Daniel Bard? He was primarily a reliever with the Red Sox, in his final two seasons with them his BB9 was 6.7!!!
Guess what happened? Last year, at Age 37, his BB9 was 3.7 with a 0.994 WHIP and (since you now love Reliever ERA) a 1.79 ERA. He even got MVP votes!
Sorry, I would have kept a 26-year-old flamethrower with control issues over a 35-year-old whose numbers are far worse.
Curt – And some people accuse me of cherrypicking? LOL!
Dar’s one issue is control, there’s a chance that can be fixed.
Did I mention he’s also a lefty?
Who do you think is more likely to still be pitching 5 years from now? Dar or Bra?
acel – Why do you think Bra can be fixed at Age 35 but Dar can’t be fixed at Age 26, that is the true question here.
I never said Braiser could be fixed. Frankly I don’t want him on the team either but that doesn’t change the fact that your argument to support Hernandez is weak not matter how much you try to muddy the waters.
acel – I agree with you on Brasier, and I see what you’re saying about Dar. Because of the Red Sox organization’s inability to develope young pitchers, you don’t think they are capable of helping him reach his full potential.
That’s fair, he deserves a chance with other organizations that have a better track record of working with pitchers.
But don’t you think if that’s the ONE problem a pitcher has, it’s something that is worth working with the pitcher on?
==========================
This isn’t like the gym, where I can spend months and years working on back weakness and elbow issues.
It goes without saying that you want to work on weaknesses with every player, in every sport, in the entire world. But there is absolutely no chance you can guarantee success. This is why some guys become FAs. Teams reach their limit and move on.
IRT to Bard, he was out of baseball for 6 years. Are you using him as an example to say we should Darwin on the 40-man roster for the next 6 years hoping he will find his control?
FWIW, this is like Adell, and Chavis, and probably 100 other players. Sometimes prospects don’t make it.
“acel – I agree with you on Brasier, and I see what you’re saying about Dar. Because of the Red Sox organization’s inability to develope young pitchers, you don’t think they are capable of helping him reach his full potential.”
FPG: I never said that either about Hernandez or the Red Sox. You need to stop putting words in people’s mouths. You’re only doing that to muddy things up and take attention away from your original point. It’s not working and only proves my point that you were pushing a weak argument that had no merit. Just take the L and move on at this point.
Joe – Obviously the years out of baseball don’t count for Bard, since no team was working with him to resolve his control issues during those years.
acel – This isn’t a competition, there’s no “winners” or “losers”. It’s about two people having a conversation, and perhaps one or both of them see things differently and meet at common ground.
My point was Dar can still turn into a solid pitcher and therefore shouldn’t be let go by the Sox.
Your point was he will never improve with the Sox and therefore it was smart to let him go as a change of scenery would be beneficial to him.
You know damn well the Red Sox have a poor history of developing pitchers after the days of Lester and Buchholz. It’s common knowledge pitchers perform better with other organizations.
But rather than meet in the middle, you are intent on “winning” and somehow claiming I’m wrong about Dar possibly turning things around.
Maybe someday you’ll stop trying to turn everything into a competition and be so confrontational and divisive. Although the odds of that are likely less than Dar becoming an everyday ML’er.
“But rather than meet in the middle, you are intent on “winning” and somehow claiming I’m wrong about Dar possibly turning things around.”
FPG: I guess you’re not familiar with the term expression. Taking the L was simply that
“Your point was he will never improve with the Sox and therefore it was smart to let him go as a change of scenery would be beneficial to him.”
Again you’re putting words in my mouth. I never said that Hernendez can’t improve or that he never will. So far he hasn’t meet expections. He can’t find the strike zone after 3 years of MLB action. He might and I hope he does but I don’t blame the red sox for deciding that the needed a change of scenery too.
Secondly if your idea if meeting people in the middle is purposely putting words in their mouths then you clearly don’t have an understanding of what that phrase means. I’ll meet you in the middle on this one and say that perhaps you are not intentionally missing the point or putting words in people’s mouths on purpose. I guess I shouldn’t have given you that much credit if that’s the case
“Maybe someday you’ll stop trying to turn everything into a competition and be so confrontational and divisive. Although the odds of that are likely less than Dar becoming an everyday ML’er.”.
It’s equally as funny that you talk about me being confrontational and wanting to win arguments when you are one of the most confrontational people on this board. Hell you started this conversation by insulting Joe Brady. Maybe someday you’ll be less condescending but I think that’s even more unlikely than Daniel Bard’s comeback.
“Maybe someday you’ll stop trying to turn everything into a competition and be so confrontational and divisive.”
FPG: One last point…I’ll give you credit for one thing. You are a master at trying to twist the discussion to fit your agenda or needs. I’m just holding you accountable for that. (Again that’s not meeting people in the middle, In fact like I said earlier it’s extremely condescending. that creates more divisiveness and more is confrontational.) If you act aggrieved about about that go ahead but know how transparent what you are doing is.
Obviously the years out of baseball don’t count for Bard
===========================
You’re the one that brought him up for comparison. I presume that you brought him up as an example of someone that can fix their control issues.
Ignoring the fact that it took 6 years to fix his issues, the fact remains that he might literally be once in history example.
I am sure that others have fixed their issues as well. But how long do you hold on for waiting for that moment of inspiration?
Brasier’s velocity wasn’t down last year. He topped 9 K/9 with a BB/9 under 2. His FIP/xFIP both placed him under a 4 ERA; projections mostly have him at or under 4 this coming year.
Brasier is still a major league reliever. The problem was where he was placed on the depth chart. He’s a useful guy if you’re using him in the 6th instead of as your primary RH setup. They appear to have addressed that issue this offseason. I would be disappointed if they DFA him before a guy like Kaleb Ort, who has some positive traits but no track record at all of being an effective RH reliever in MLB.
Got to disagree with you on his velo RHS. When they 1st called him up, after he spent most of that year in the minors? He was touching 98 and sitting 96-7mph. Now, he’s sitting 94 and rarely touching 96.
I like the guy as well. Hard not to the way he screamed at Sanchez to hurry his slow rear end up to get into the batter’s box u know.. Point is? The FB is pretty much all he’s got and those 2-3 ticks made a world of difference for a guy with just an iffy slider to go along with it.
John- Brasier’s vFA was 97 during a half season in 2018. In the four years that followed, it was 96.2, 96.4, 95.4 and 96. It’s fair to say he’s not throwing quite as hard as he did in 2018. I did not clarify that I was looking for a serious year-to-year drop that might suggest a hidden injury or losing so much stuff that he simply is no longer capable of getting anyone out.
john – Great response, I totally agree.
But I do agree with RHS on one thing, I’d rather have Bra on the ML roster than Ort.
Ort is not a ML pitcher right now, and expecting a 31-year-old to suddenly “figure it out” is unrealistic.
it was 96.2, 96.4, 95.4 and 96. It’s fair to say he’s not throwing quite as hard as he did in 2018.
==============================
Past maybe age 22-23, most pitchers’ velocity drops. Sometimes it is a matter of them choosing control over velocity, but I’m not sure you’ll find more than a couple of pitchers throwing as hard four years later.
They’ve tried to fire Brasier 100 times but he looks at them sideways and it scares them off.
Like the jack morris death stare!!! Intimidating!!! Would you believe Calvin Schraldi???
robb – You just gave me a vision of a nude Henry nuzzling under a nude Bloom’s chin.
I might as well forget about dinner now.
With an option remaining, some club will surely take a flyer on him. Pity that he struggles to throw strikes.
I had a friend years ago who topped 95 (back in the 80s) and had multiple tryouts before scouts. Besides accuracy, you need movement. His coaches all tried to get him to adjust but either he was wild or the ball had no movement. Nothing in between. RIP Bob.
That was a nice story about Bob, thank you. Sorry he’s gone too soon.
Ignorant – Look up Steve Dalkowski, the original Wild Thing.
I agree mostly but guys like Jared Weaver and Lincecum have found success. A deceptive delivery or long hide on the ball can make up for some of that lack of movement. Subjective I guess.
He was absolutely brutal in his final few games as a Red Sox, but I doubt he clears waivers. He’s young and still has upside.
I’d be shocked if they didn’t get a good offer. The guy was electric. Someone might develop him, but it doesn’t look like us. Just keep him away from TB.
Somebody will definitely snag this guy
Where are all the clowns crying about Thad Ward, now? At least he tried to sneak him through to minors, and still has a chance to retain him, via claim back. This scenario was pointed out several times before/during/after Rule V, but no one would listen.
You guys owe Bloom an apology.
Yeah, all the Thad Ward drama was overblown. The optics of leaving him up for rule 5 weren’t great, but people seem to forget that even if they put him on the 40-man they still were gonna have to DFA a bunch of people
Keeping him off the 40-Man gives him a better chance of surviving because other teams have to put him on their 25-Man roster. Also, he may still get pulled back, if Nats dont want to keep him for the full season.– If you put him on 40-Man, then waive him. All the other team has to do is put him on their 40-Man not 25-Man.
It was strategic, and I don’t think Bloom cared about “optics” that weren’t looking at the full picture.
Here you go… waaaaah, Thad Ward.
Happy now? Only apology Bloom is ever going to get is along the lines of “glad to see you’re gone, but oh so sorry it took so long.”
GASox: Weren’t you one of the guys waaahhing about losing Ward?
I wasnt waaahhing, because I knew before off-season was over the Red Sox would be waiving better players than Ward, Song and Politi. It was just a matter of time.
Not initially, no. I just wanted to grant your request.
But, I do think the end of last season was mismanaged in that a couple guys like politi should’ve logged some mlb playing time to see if their minors stuff would translate
I was on the why not RL Song bandwagon actually started off as the driver. There’s a point where his age vs the arb control left doesn’t make a difference, and, I think he’s just about there – besides which, that clock starts in PHI anyways so why not start it here?
But back to ward… given the TJ recovery and his numbers since coming back, you know, I think he could’ve been stashed as a middle reliever at least if not optioned up and down as depth.
The time to have made a road map for all this stuff was August when you knew the house was cooked with this team. Seems like a lot of guys were picked up by other clubs via waivers or rule 5 when you could’ve traded them away for something had you clearly planned. Just seems wasteful
Amazing. This guy was unhittable when he first came up. He had a K/9 of 16.9. Small sample, but still very impressive.
He has never posted a walk rate below 17.0% in the majors, and his minors record is much betters. It was fine for them to let him go
True, but I thought he’d continue to cut down the walks. With his K-rate, you only have to go below5/9 to be good.
Joe – Yes!! So why are you happy he was let go?
I’m not happy or unhappy that he was let go. Letting go of #40-ish type guys is part of BB. Almost 100% of #41 guys have some talent. But the majority won’t make it.
So true… was thinking here’s our closer of the future… then the doors fell off
I guess Stanton will just have to obliterate the center cut offerings of one of our other world class options in the bullpen
I still want to know why Bloom insists on keeping Kaleb Ort on the 40-man roster over some of his recent DFAs. Ort is over 30 years old and was completely outclassed in MLB when he was called up in 2022. I see absolutely no value in him whatsoever.
Darwinzon has certainly had enough chances to prove himself, so not overly sorry to see him go but he is much more valuable/age appropriate than Kaleb Ort. Maybe they think they can some sort of return for Darwinzon? That’s the only thing that makes sense here.
Because he was hitting 101 and he has options left. That’s a strong shuttle arm. They do have too many pitchers on the 40-man. You wonder if maybe they think about trying to get a low stuff/decent prospect type off the 40-man first. If they aren’t willing to DFA, say, Seabold, it’s tough to see how both Brasier AND Ort make it through March. You also have Kelly, German and Mata all on the 40-man as shuttle type RHRP. Kelly’s emergence really hurt Ort.
There could be a trade pending or that they’re hoping will clear the jam.
rhs – Wouldn’t you say there is an organization-wide flaw within the Red Sox that prevents them from developing pitchers to their maximum ability?
Something just ain’t right that an organization with Boston’s resources can’t produce very many productive ML-caliber pitchers.
There is at least one more DFA coming. Kluber still needs to be added to the 40 man roster.
Maybe they think they can some sort of return for Darwinzon?
=============================
That’s my guess as well.
Perhaps Ort is working on a knuckle ball or will go submarine style in ’23 and Bloom is intrigued at the possibilities.
IN. BB
28.0 19
65.1. 30
48.1. 36
103.1. 49
107.0. 66
57.1. 48
30.1. 26
8.1. 8
1.0. 1
40.0. 31
33.0. 27
6.2. 8
This is Darwinzon’s career innings and walks at every level. Darwinzon has NEVER in has entire career had command! The real question why the Red Sox ever brought him up. Did they actually think the problem would magically go away at the MLB level. He should have had more time at AAA before rushing him to the MLB.
He was brought up because guys like Brasier were terrible and didn’t finish the job.
Replacing a terrible pitcher with one even worse solves nothing….
Very true, just pointing that out.
Why this guy over brasier?
Hey play nice… Brasier is a nice man…. See robb2103 post….
Why not read the other comments instead of writing something already said 9 times?
@Curtisrowe I’m using my phone because I’ve been busy all day.
If it’s repeated, sorry, but that goes to show a lot are on my side.
Why this guy over brasier?
=========================
Because nowhere in his career has Darwinzon ever exhibited any control whatsoever. I loved the guy when he first came up, but his control is gone. There comes a point when you have to move on.
Multiple FO’s and staffs have tried to fix Darwinzon in Boston.
No one could get him to throw strikes consistently. You can only run on raw stuff for so long. Eventually you have to throw strikes to stick. His time was up.
Joe – I’m guessing you didn’t realize how you just contradicted yourself in the same post.
“nowhere in his career has Darwinzon ever exhibited any control whatsoever.”
“his control is gone.”
How can something be gone if he supposedly never had it to begin with?
And BTW – These are his BB9 numbers earlier in his career:
2017 – 4.3
2018 – 5.6
And right now in the VWL it’s 5.0
What, you think they used larger plates all those times?
“nowhere in his career has Darwinzon ever exhibited any control whatsoever.”
“his control is gone.”
============================
You want that I should change that to “he’s never had control”? I thought that was understood.
And did you just pull stats from A-ball 5 years ago as an argument for keeping him?
Lefty that throws strikes probably doesn’t make it through waivers. Someone will give him a chance.
unfortunately he wasn’t throwing a lot of strikes at the major league level which lead to him being cut
Lefty that throws strikes? You have to be thinking of someone else because that certainly ain’t Darwinzon Hernandez. He is a lefty though so not entirely wrong…. I guess?
Surprising to me. Feels like there are far worthier candidates. Maybe it’s got something to do with option years/ service time.
A pitcher who is not good enough to stick full time in the MLB is still valuable as an up down (MLB to AAA) pitcher IF HE HAS OPTIONS.
With no options see Ryan Weber New York Yankees 2022. I think he was DFAed 5 times last year. Someone with more talent would have been taken by another team.
That astronomical walk rate implies he does not throw strikes
Hernandez is a stiff yes he throws 95 mph but he can’t find the plate and is a nightmare to watch out there .
Yes Hernandez does hit 95 on the radar gun but he’s awful to watch out there, he rarely throws strikes and is a nightmare.Great move cutting ties with this stiff.
Cora’s going to be weeping tonight.
Let’s move Sale and Paxton to the bullpen and sign Wacha and Cueto to start. No… seriously.
Darwinzon, Darlosesome.
That guy NEEDED to Go…so tired every time he came in only to load the bases or give up a three run hit
Another guy that should have been dumped in favor of adding Thad Ward to the roster and protecting him from the Rule 5 Draft. Keep up the good work, Bloom!
the next to be DFAd id Braiser or Ort
For me it started with Stanley.. el guapo… julien taveras.. tony fossas… leskanic…Felix dubrount… and now Brasier( I’m sure I’m missing a few more of my favs).. please Bloom anyone but Brais…. Thank you for your consideration….
olmtiant- Your list is incomplete without Way Back Wasdin.
Ah good times…..some day I’ll list my favorite Redsox players thru the years… Carlos Quintana!!! Marc Sullivan just not enough days to list all
olmtiant – I still remember when a pitching change meant going from Rainey to Clear. LOL
Nice!!!! Mark clear!!!! And good old Chuck!! I believe clear might have made an All star game with Sox??… spot starter’s… Joe Heskieth( lefty ring a bell ??) ah… when being a fan meant only one thing…. Disappointment…