A's Add Former Houston Astros Reliever as Depth Piece

The Athletics have added another depth arm to their farm system

Sep 6, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros relief pitcher Nick Hernandez (72) pitches against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the ninth inning at Minute Maid Park. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images | Thomas Shea-Imagn Images

A's fans are still waiting for the club to make a splash on the pitching market, given that it's the team's biggest area of weakness following the 2025 season.

They'll have to wait a little longer for the big, impactful move, but while the team was having a press conference to introduce the recently extended Tyler Soderstrom, they also added a right-hander that spent time with the Houston Astros the past two seasons in Nick Hernandez, according to Ari Alexander.

Over the past three seasons with the San Diego Padres and Houston Astros, Hernandez has racked up a total of 21 2/3 innings in the big leagues, including 10 2/3 with Houston this past season. He holds a cumulative 7.06 ERA with a 7.64 FIP in that span, and because of his small sample in the big leagues, his stats have fluctuated wildly over the years.

In 2024 his ground ball rate was 39.1% while his HR/FB rate was 44.4% (small sample), and in 2025 his GB% dropped to just 24.2% and his HR/FB fell as well, to 14.3%. In Triple-A this past season he racked up 46 2/3 innings with a 2.12 ERA (4.20 FIP) and held an impressive 33.7% strikeout rate.

He leads his attack with an 82 mile per hour slider, and pairs that with a low-90s four-seamer. He'll also mix in a splitter roughly 10% of the time, and that offering had just a .071 expected batting average against in 2025 in a very limited sample.

There is some intrigue in his profile, particularly with his strikeout rate in the minors. The one downside here is that his numbers from five his stints with the Astros were spaced out over numerous months, including his final five appearances of the season in September. This seems to be indicative of his stats in the minors not translating to the big league game really at any point.

We'll see if some changes to his mix or approach are made in the A's system, but it would appear as though the addition of Hernandez is not a huge under-the-radar signing, but more of a depth one for the club. He doesn't throw terribly hard, ranking in the 11th percentile in the bigs, yet he was still walking 15.4% of the hitters he faced in the big leagues.

Even in Triple-A when he was striking out 33.7% of the hitters he faced, he was still walking 11.8%. He will likely be used as a depth arm for the A's when they need someone fresh, or if and when they just need to switch up the mix of guys beyond the outfield wall.