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BP Annual Player Comments

Year		Comment
2008		When Earl Weaver said that the hitters will tell you when a pitcher is done, he was referring to in-game situations, but the jury appears to have rendered a verdict on Roberto Hernandez's career as well.
2006		At first glance, one would assume his improvement was a simple case of moving from the pitching hell of Philadelphia to Shea Stadium. In actuality, he pitched almost identically in New York in `05 as he did in Philadelphia in `04. It was on the road where the big swing came, his ERA deflating by about 80%. If the home value is constant and the true road value lands somewhere between the extremes, he`s a handy pitcher to have around, 41 summers or not. Signed to a one-year deal by the Pirates to set up or perhaps even close.
2004		Then again, some reclamation projects fail. Hernandez still throws hard, but he couldn't find the strike zone in '03, and spoilt time on the DL with abdominal and hamstring injuries. His 4.35 ERA wasn't good to begin with, and far overstates his offoctivonoss. Now 39, and three years removed from his last good season, he's going to have to settle for a minor leatue contract. On second thought, the Phillies needed a new Jose Mesa.
2003		Look at the bright side: few men have done more to disprove the myth of the importance of a closer more than Hernandez. The Royals went hard after Hernandez after the 2000 season because their bullpen became the first in history to blow more than half of their save opportunities. Even as Hernandez converted over 80% of his opportunities the past two years, the Royals still fell from 77 wins to 65 to 62. And for the privilege, the Royals shelled out $12 million, not to mention Johnny Damon. Even Allard Baird can learn this lesson: a closer is simply a reliever who gets to pitch the ninth inning. And there are better ways to spend $6 million a year than on a 70-inning pitcher.
2002		Wow, imagine how bad the Royals might have been without a Proven Veteran Closer. Not only did they trade Johnny Damon for Hernandez, but Allard Baird's insistence that Hernandez is a major asset led them to not trade him at the deadline and to pick up his $6-million option for 2002. A six-month CD would be a better use of the money. Check that Stuff column: he's deep into a decline, so even expecting saves from him is risky.
2001		With some decent live arms coming through the system and no hope of contending in 2001, the Devil Rays did well to convert Roberto Hernandez into Ben Grieve. Hernandez is a consistent relief pitcher with a sprinkle of the "closer" fairy dust and no visible scars or contusions. He'll be worth a lot in July when the Royals are 41-46 and looking to purge payroll.
2000		He avoided the extreme wildness that plagued him in 1998 and fashioned an effective season. All the more reason that LaMar should be spanked for not moving him. The demand for veteran relievers always swells near the trading deadline, so if the erratic Hernandez can keep it together for four months, LaMar will have another chance to do the right thing.
1999		Hernandez' season was one of extremes. From the start of the season through May 8, he was dreadful: 15 innings with an ERA of 7.80, a base-runner ratio of 2.33, saving two while blowing three. Then he found his split-finger pitch, and went the next 24 plus innings without allowing an earned run, with as many saves (15) as baserunners. Then he lost it again; the next 23 innings saw a 7.33 ERA, with four of ten saves blown; then September comes and he finishes the year with 8.2 scoreless innings and a 10-2 K:W ratio. He was twice publicly demoted from the closer's role; his resurgences coincided with those demotions almost to the day.
1998		Even though his strikeout rate has fallen a lot the last couple of years, it would have to drop a lot more for him to reach the level of Rod Beck. Beck has already shown that he can pitch well after the fastball’s gone. Hernandez hasn’t done that yet, and his pitching style doesn’t suggest a guy who will take well to the loss of his heater. Even though he’s older than Beck, Hernandez hasn’t had his mid-career crisis yet. Signed by Tampa Bay to be the closer.
1997		There were complaints as the season went on that Hernandez was being overused. Although you didn’t get it from his pitching 84 2/3 innings, Bevington had him warming up far more often than his 72 games tell you. Hernandez came apart in September (6.59 ERA, four losses). Unlike many closers, Hernandez actually throws three different pitches: fastball, slider and forkball. In the past, that was considered part of the problem: Hernandez would get too cute with his breaking stuff, instead of just gassing batters.
1996		As you can see, he's not the young prospect you might think for a guy with only four years in the majors under his belt. He probably logged the worst 30-save season by anybody not named Jeff Reardon. Like a lot of wild power pitchers, he needs a lot of work and a lot of extended outings to consistently succeed. He's definitely miscast as an "inning or less" Eckersley-style closer, and I think a lot of his failure this year was due to a light workload early, when the Sox weren't building too many ninth-inning leads.

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PITCHf/x Pitcher Profile

A Collaboration between BrooksBaseball.net and Baseball Prospectus - Pitch classifications provided by Pitch Info LLC

Although he has not thrown an MLB pitch in 2024, Roberto Hernandez threw 359 pitches that were tracked by the PITCHf/x system in 2007, including pitches thrown in . In 2007, he relied primarily on his Fourseam Fastball (93mph) and Slider (86mph), also mixing in a Splitter (87mph). He also rarely threw a Change (91mph), Sinker (92mph), Curve (86mph), Cutter (87mph) and Knuckleball (94mph).