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The Dodgers are getting at the very least among the previous band again along with Tuesday’s reacquisition of Enrique Hernández. The 32-year-old super-utilityman returns (together with money issues) through commerce with the Purple Sox in change for pitchers Nick Robertson and Justin Hagenman. Hernández, who signed a one-year, $10 million pact with Boston through the offseason, is hitting a career-worst .222/.279/.320 (60 wRC+). The Purple Sox are picking up roughly $2.5 million of the deal’s remaining cash to enhance their return, receiving a number of polished, back-of-the-40-man arms in Hagenman and Robertson.
This season is the second consecutive yr of declining offensive efficiency for Hernández, who has been a below-average hitter for a lot of the final 5 years. The decline is consistent throughout a wide range of statistical classes, and there aren’t any underlying indicators which may point out a bounce again or optimistic regression, however Hernández remains to be a succesful defender at second base and (most significantly on this case) in heart discipline. A June damage to Trayce Thompson ultimately begat a deal for defensive specialist Jake Marisnick, whose latest hamstring damage once more left the Dodgers skinny in heart. James Outman, whose hit software has had a violent regression to the imply after a scorching begin, has seen the lion’s share of reps in heart this yr, whereas Jason Heyward and rookie Jonny Deluca have every performed there a handful of instances. All three are succesful heart discipline defenders however none of them is nice, and you may make a coherent argument that Hernández is the perfect wholesome heart discipline defender on the Dodgers 40-man proper now.
Hernández has had matches and begins of multi-positional obligation this yr. There have been stretches the place he’s deployed solely at shortstop for weeks at a time, whereas at different factors, he has transitioned from second or brief to heart discipline (and vice versa) inside the similar recreation. He’s not a plus defender at any of these positions, and in reality I’d think about him under common at shortstop now, however his versatility will enable for supervisor Dave Roberts to extra freely play matchups along with his outfield platoon. It additionally permits Roberts to hit for light-hitting beginning shortstop Miguel Rojas in necessary spots, as now both Hernández or Chris Taylor can slide in on the place after Roberts pulls that offense-minded lever.
Hernández is probably going final within the righty-hitting pecking order on the lively roster, however he’s going to assist guarantee the opposite hitters are deployed in matchups that go well with their expertise, he’ll play high-effort protection and make some heady, spectacular performs, and he’ll convey a melange of his regular clubhouse presence lower with nostalgic familiarity.
The brand new Purple Sox pitchers are each large league-ready, lower-impact arms. Hernández has been a below-replacement performer, so to get something again for him required consuming a bit of his remaining deal, and on this case, the Purple Sox get depth on the perimeter of their 40-man roster. Twenty-five-year-old righty Nick Robertson was a 2019 seventh rounder out of James Madison and was developed as a pure aid prospect. Although he and the Dodgers had hassle discovering a persistently good breaking ball, Robertson coasted by the minors and made his large league debut in June; he ought to settle in as a fastball/changeup up/down reliever. He joins a large contingent of optionable pitching on Boston’s 40-man.
The soon-to-be-27-year-old Hagenman has been one of many higher few dozen strike throwers within the minors the final three seasons, throughout which he’s walked simply 6.8% of batters throughout 180 innings. A 3-year starter at Penn State, the previous twenty third rounder has been developed in a protracted aid position as a professional, and he posted a sub-3.00 ERA and 5-to-1 strikeout to stroll ratio throughout 55 innings with Triple-A Oklahoma Metropolis earlier than the commerce. Hagenman sits 91-94 with sink (however a flat strategy angle) and depends on his secondary pitch high quality and execution to get by. His mid-80s changeup (normally 86-87 mph) has large fade and is Hagenman’s nastiest pure pitch when it comes to motion, however his command of his 45-grade slider makes that pitch his most constant weapon, and the one which performs the perfect from a bat-missing perspective. He’s a wonderfully good upper-level lengthy reliever who’d throw strikes if he needed to get six large league outs tomorrow, however on stuff, Hagenman seems like a fringe 40-man arm.
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