Hernandez, who was signed to a minor-league contract last month, appeared in five games in Viera, allowing one earned run and five hits in six innings of relief work. He struck out nine and did not walk a batter.The half-brother of Nationals starter Livan Hernandez, "El Duque" has not pitched in the majors since 2007 with the Mets. His signing with the Nats helped facilitate the club's subsequent signing of Cuban right-hander Yunesky Maya, who is currently pitching in the Gulf Coast League.
Don't be surprised if Maya winds up pitching alongside Hernandez in Harrisburg soon. Hernandez also could make his way to Washington as a September call-up if he performs at Class AA.
I never realized how tangled the world of free agency really is. Is it really this common for teams to sign veterans in order to entice others to sign? El Duque to land Maya. Pudge to land other free agent pitching (I recall at least one article in the Post this offseason that said Pudge was the reason a few others were willing to talk to the Nationals). Livo to mentor the young pitchers. I can't tell if this is just a PR storyline I'm being fed or if it's really the team strategy. Do other teams do this as well?
ReplyDeleteThe Hernandez "kids" may become the first pitchers to have major league contracts, and collect Social Security, at the same time!
ReplyDeleteThey may already be (assuming they tell us their real ages, and not the one's listed in the media guide)!
ReplyDeleteIf an El Duque call-up means buh-bye to Marquis, I'm all for it!
ReplyDeleteGood one Doc
ReplyDeletehe makes Livo look like a spring chicken
ReplyDeleteHassan Pena, another Cuban defector plays for Harrisburg. Did he and Maya play together/know each other?
ReplyDeleteBoth Hernandez and Pena pitched tonight in Harrisburg in relief of Brad Peacock. They faired better than Brad.
ReplyDeleteAnon 10:49PM, I wanted to just thank you for pointing this out. I'm experimenting with doing minor league writeups for Federal Baseball, and that was a good look. Made sure that I name checked you in my writeup.
ReplyDelete