Hernandez Gets Honest About Brutal Outing: ‘Everything Went Wrong'
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After taking game one of their series against the Colorado Rockies, the Kansas City Royals dropped game two in convincing fashion. The club surrendered 10 runs to Colorado in the thin air of Coors Field, and almost all of them were charged to starting pitcher Carlos Hernandez.
It was a dreadful outing for Hernandez, who flashed legitimate promise in 2021 but has yet to carry that success into this season. The 25-year-old has an inflated 9.11 ERA this year and his eight-hit, three-walk outing on Saturday didn't help matters whatsoever. It was one of his worst starts of the season, which says a lot considering his recent struggles.
May 9, 2022; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Kansas City Royals relief pitcher Carlos Hernandez (43) delivers a first inning pitch against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports
The damage started early on for the Rockies, as outfielder Charlie Blackmon clobbered a home run to right-center field to put Colorado up 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning. A second-inning sacrifice fly by catcher Dom Nunez and a Jose Iglesias single put the Rockies' run total at four, then outfielder Sam Hilliard hit a three-run jack to bring the figure to seven.
In the bottom of the fifth, infielder Brendan Rodgers doubled home a run, signaling the end of Hernandez's night. He would soon be charged an additional run at the expense of relief pitcher Ronald Bolaños, giving him nine earned runs allowed in the game. When asked about whether his lack of fastball command led to a greater dependency on offspeed pitches, Hernandez dismissed the notion.
"Not really," Hernandez said through assistant strength and conditioning coach Luis Perez. "The goal was to mix every pitch that I was working with and everything in the bullpen looked good, so I went with all of them."
Of the 85 pitches Hernandez threw on Saturday night, only 35 of them were four-seam fastballs. That was good for 41%, a pretty clear drop-off from his season average of 47.8% (that was higher heading into the game). Between that and his splitter, the offerings combined for two walks, two singles, both home runs and the aforementioned sacrifice fly. Hernandez objectively struggled to command his primary pitch(es) against the Rockies, and their lineup made him pay for it.
It's been a terrible year to be a Hernandez four-seamer, as the offering has experienced a turnaround in the wrong direction from a year ago. In 2021, opponents hit just .216 against it while posting a measly .364 SLG and being put away 18.6% of the time. This season, those numbers are .516, .774 and 3.7%, respectively. Additionally, Hernandez's average velocity on the pitch has dropped from 97.2 mph to 95.2 mph. Among the many reasons why he's struggled this year, a poor fastball has been the main one.
It remains to be seen whether Hernandez will receive another start in the near future. He's still a member of the rotation as of the publishing of this article, but Jonathan Heasley was recently promoted and Brady Singer could experience the same benefit soon. If that happens, it does make at least some sense for Kansas City to send one of their struggling arms down to Triple-A for some more fine-tuned work. Regardless of that timeline, Hernandez is getting back to work to make his own changes.
Aug 22, 2021; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Carlos Hernandez (43) delivers against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-USA TODAY Sports
"Everything went wrong," Hernandez said. "Just have to get back to work and get better."
