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 concerns) through commerce with the Crimson Sox in alternate 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 Crimson Sox are selecting 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 constant throughout quite a lot of statistical classes, and there aren’t any underlying indicators that may point out a bounce again or constructive regression, however Hernández remains to be a succesful defender at second base and (most significantly on this case) in middle discipline. A June damage to Trayce Thompson finally begat a deal for defensive specialist Jake Marisnick, whose current hamstring damage once more left the Dodgers skinny in middle. James Outman, whose hit device has had a violent regression to the imply after a scorching begin, has seen the lion’s share of reps in middle this yr, whereas Jason Heyward and rookie Jonny Deluca have every performed there a handful of occasions. All three are succesful middle discipline defenders however none of them is nice, and you can also make a coherent argument that Hernández is one of the best wholesome middle 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 quick to middle discipline (and vice versa) inside the identical recreation. He’s not a plus defender at any of these positions, and in reality I’d contemplate him under common at shortstop now, however his versatility will enable for supervisor Dave Roberts to extra freely play matchups together with his outfield platoon. It additionally permits Roberts to hit for light-hitting beginning shortstop Miguel Rojas in vital 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 energetic roster, however he’s going to assist guarantee the opposite hitters are deployed in matchups that swimsuit their expertise, he’ll play high-effort protection and make some heady, spectacular performs, and he’ll convey a melange of his standard clubhouse presence lower with nostalgic familiarity.
The brand new Crimson 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 Crimson 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 reduction prospect. Regardless that he and the Dodgers had hassle discovering a persistently good breaking ball, Robertson coasted by way of the minors and made his large league debut in June; he ought to settle in as a fastball/changeup up/down reliever. He joins an enormous 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 reduction function 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 (often 86-87 mph) has large fade and is Hagenman’s nastiest pure pitch by way of motion, however his command of his 45-grade slider makes that pitch his most constant weapon, and the one which performs one of the best 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.