Not a lot went right for the rookie in his first taste of the big leagues
Our Season In Review series continues this morning with a look back at one of the many young infielders that the A’s tried out during the lost 2023 season. The person we’ll be examining today is none other than Darell Hernaiz.
How was he acquired?
Hernaiz found his way to the Athletics organization back in January 2023. The young shortstop came over from the Baltimore Orioles as the main and only piece in exchange for lefty starting pitcher Cole Irvin and minor league pitcher Kyle Virbitsky. The team was seemingly done making moves at the time after entering their rebuild the previous season, and Irvin was one of the few starting pitchers the club could rely on to make every start and soak up innings for a young rotation with question marks. Still, with the team ready to burn it all to the ground there wasn’t much sense in keeping the then-29 year old left-hander. Instead they elected to trade him in exchange for an intriguing prospect blocked in the majors. Maybe they could strike lightning in a bottle.
What were the expectations?
Hernaiz was a former 5th-round draft pick back in 2019 as an athletic young shortstop that had questions about how his bat would play in the majors due to a lack of power. Hernaiz, who was now ranked #25 among Orioles farmhands, lost out on the 2020 season like every other minor leaguer due to COVID, a huge loss of development time for everyone. 2021 saw some struggles with the bat before the young infielder shot up three levels during the 2022 season, reaching Triple-A just before the end of the year. That clearly caught the A’s attention and with Hernaiz blocked in the majors by star shortstop Gunnar Henderson made him expendable to the O’s, thus the Irvin trade.
His first year in Oakland’s system saw him start the 2023 season in Double-A where he crushed the ball and earned a promotion to Triple-A Las Vegas. While the power still wasn’t there he continued to look like he’d figured it out with the bat slashing a healthy .321/.386/.456 over 131 games over the two highest levels of the minors. There was some hope he’d get to make his debut that season with the likes of Elvis Andrus, Tony Kemp, Vimael Machin, and Nick Allen all getting lots of playing time but not doing much with it. Instead the club kept Hernaiz down for the entire season but it was clear his debut was coming sooner than later.
Considering he had yet to make his MLB debut, expectations should have been tempered by A’s fans. They were desperate to see improvement at shortstop and started looking at Hernaiz through rose-colored glasses, expecting him to claim the starting shortstop job and keep it the entire year while supplanting Nick Allen, who had begun wearing out his welcome. That was the best-case scenario but not the most likely. Either way, Hernaiz was now the Athletics’ #4 prospect and was going to be given the chance to break camp with the team in ‘24 but he’d need a big spring training to earn it.
2024 Results
Hernaiz indeed had a quality spring, slashing .313/340/.333 while showing considerable improvement at both shortstop and third base. It was beginning to even look like he’d begin the season as the starting third baseman before the club brought on JD Davis as a late addition to the infield mix. That addition did not stop the club from bringing Hernaiz with them back to Oakland for Opening Day as he earned a roster spot out of camp, his first taste of the major leagues. He even made it into that Opening Day loss against the Cleveland Guardians, getting a pinch-hit appearance in the bottom of the 8th in that blowout loss. He went 0-for-1 in what was a sign of struggles to come.
The rookie shortstop played sparingly over the first few weeks of the season. He got irregular at-bats and never got a true chance to find his rhythm at the plate before the club sent him back to Triple-A on April 19th, just three weeks into the season. There he at least got regular playing time and began looking more like the player that impressed the year before. It would only take a week before he found his way back to the A’s and this time he seized the shortstop job from Nick Allen. Once considered the ‘shortstop of the future’, Allen again just looked overmatched by major league pitching and the club was eager to see if Hernaiz could find his footing in the majors with regular playing time.
His stint as the everyday shortstop was looking like it was going well enough as he went 9-for-37 in his limited time as the starter. That run came to an end on May 7th when he sprained his ankle trying to beat out an infield single against the Texas Rangers during a blowout loss. That hustle, which we love to see, did end up costing him the rest of May, June, and July in their entirety, which likely affected him the rest of the way as he just could not get back into a groove of things.
August saw Hernaiz return to the Athletics on August 2nd after a successful rehab assignment but he just didn’t look the same pre-injury. He went just 9-for-43 upon his return and again found himself optioned to Triple-A for more seasoning. Hernaiz would almost the rest of the year playing for the Aviators outside of a short four games with the A’s to wrap up the year. When all was said and done Hernaiz hit just .192/.261/.242 with one home run and one stolen base. His rookie season was not great by any standards but that injury really threw a major wrench into his development.
2025 Outlook
Now 23, Hernaiz has graduated off the prospect list and is still on the roster. He again figures to be in the infield mix, though not at shortstop. That job belongs solely to top prospect Jacob Wilson, who is the undisputed starter at short. Hernaiz instead will need to force his way into the lineup at other spots on the infield, namely second and third bases. That could be tough considering the team has fellow young infielder Zack Gelof at the keystone and the newly-signed Gio Urshela as the starter at the hot corner. Hernaiz is still young for a prospect but he’s quickly losing ground among the A’s. Hernaiz broke camp last year as a flexible bench option capable of handling most infield positions but if the club still believes in him long-term, it may be best to let him get everyday at-bats in Triple-A instead of riding the bench in Sacramento and playing sparingly. We’ll see how the club handles Hernaiz soon enough when camp opens, which could be a make-or-break Spring Training for him.
