Darell Hernaiz

[Hazmat]

I didn't see a thread for this young man for the 2021 season and that drives home the question, does this guy get enough love?  He was overshadowed by Gunnar and Westburg early in the season and is now playing with the "Marauding Delmarva Offense" that is made up of relatively high college draft picks.  Yet, at 19, 2.3 years under the average age for A ball, Hernaiz continues to hold his own and play well.  He's batting .270 with a .329 OBP.  However, his SLG is only .345.  

Do we expect him to develop some power as he gets older and fills out?  What is his likely ultimate position?  Does he have a chance to stick at SS or is he a 2B?  Does he have the arm to play 3B?

Currently ranked the #30 prospect on Tony's power rankings.

[bobmc]

15 minutes ago, Hazmat said:

I didn't see a thread for this young man for the 2021 season and that drives home the question, does this guy get enough love?  He was overshadowed by Gunnar and Westburg early in the season and is now playing with the "Marauding Delmarva Offense" that is made up of relatively high college draft picks.  Yet, at 19, 2.3 years under the average age for A ball, Hernaiz continues to hold his own and play well.  He's batting .270 with a .329 OBP.  However, his SLG is only .345.  

Do we expect him to develop some power as he gets older and fills out?  What is his likely ultimate position?  Does he have a chance to stick at SS or is he a 2B?  Does he have the arm to play 3B?

Currently ranked the #30 prospect on Tony's power rankings.

The next Ramon Urias?

[ChuckS]

35 minutes ago, Hazmat said:

I didn't see a thread for this young man for the 2021 season and that drives home the question, does this guy get enough love?  He was overshadowed by Gunnar and Westburg early in the season and is now playing with the "Marauding Delmarva Offense" that is made up of relatively high college draft picks.  Yet, at 19, 2.3 years under the average age for A ball, Hernaiz continues to hold his own and play well.  He's batting .270 with a .329 OBP.  However, his SLG is only .345.  

Do we expect him to develop some power as he gets older and fills out?  What is his likely ultimate position?  Does he have a chance to stick at SS or is he a 2B?  Does he have the arm to play 3B?

Currently ranked the #30 prospect on Tony's power rankings.

He's been pretty solid defensively from what I understand.  If he can add some power to this game, I think he becomes a top 15 prospect.  He still has time, given his age. 

[Frobby]

There’s no thread on him because he rarely has a day, a week or a month where he really blows up and does something outstanding.   That’s usually when the threads start.   

That said, his BA and OBP are very solid for a 19-year old playing at Delmarva (he turned 20 last month).   The power is sorely lacking right now but we can hope that develops as he matures.   

I think he’s done enough to warrant a promotion to Aberdeen next spring, but the field’s a little crowded, so it’s possible he’ll get held over.   

 

 

[RZNJ]

At his age, he gives you hope in the fact that he doesn't strike out too much, can steel a base, shows enough power (5 homers) to hope for more as he matures.   He shows a little bit in all areas.   His fielding percentage is low (.918) at SS and there were some reports of questionable arm strength for that position.   He could blow up and become something more but right now he just looks like a nice player.

[CharmCityHokie]

Just throwing out more details, and not taking FanGraphs as Gospel but I thought this was an interesting take from March of this year:

 

24. Darell Hernaiz, SS

Drafted: 5th Round, 2019 from Americas HS (TX) (BAL)

Age	19.6	Height	6′ 1″	Weight	170	Bat / Thr	R / R	FV	40

Tool Grades (Present/Future)

Hit	Raw Power	Game Power	Run	Fielding	Throw
25/50	45/55	20/45	50/45	40/50	55

A GM once told me (I’m paraphrasing) that if a player is well-built and has some baseball acumen, they deserve serious consideration even if their tools are currently average. Such is the case with Hernaiz, who has a bunch of average tools right now, but could grow into a carrying, impact trait because he’s a well-built and athletic young man. He has pro ball pedigree (his father played throughout the ’90s), and average bat control, he rotates fast and creates leverage, and he’s athletic enough that he might stay at shortstop. This was a strong $400,000 signing; Hernaiz is one of the more interesting young players in this system. 

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/top-45-prospects-baltimore-orioles/

 

[Hazmat]

On 9/3/2021 at 9:49 AM, bobmc said:

The next Ramon Urias?

I’m hoping he’s a better version of Pedro Florimon.

2 more hits last night and 2 SB’s.

[Chaka Garcia]

Also, he's need to avoid the Adam Hall trajectory by hitting more power to avoid stalling at A or AA.

[RZNJ]

8 hours ago, Chaka Garcia said:

Also, he's need to avoid the Adam Hall trajectory by hitting more power to avoid stalling at A or AA.

Adam Hall had little power and struck out a lot.  Hernaiz makes a lot of contact.   They are different in that very important way.

[sportsfan8703]

Hernaiz is leading Delmarva in ABs this year. We’re just having a little bit of a log jam with Middle Infielders right now and that’s even with Joey Ortiz being hurt pretty much all year. 
 

With us drafting so many NCAA bats it looks like we do need the other full season league, but that isn’t coming back. 
 

Obviously guys need to produce to get passed over. Also, we need to trim the fat in AAA a bit. Plus, we need to start pushing guys aggressively, Elias seems to have done that somewhat. Also, Adam Hall looks like he’s just an org guy at this point. 

[Chaka Garcia]

With all these draftees and international guys moving up. How does it impact guys like Bannon, Grenier and Adam Hall who look like future utility guys - do they get let go, traded or unprotected? Also, I see guys like Sparks and Carmona not making it past spring training next year.

[CharmCityHokie]

35 minutes ago, Chaka Garcia said:

With all these draftees and international guys moving up. How does it impact guys like Bannon, Grenier and Adam Hall who look like future utility guys - do they get let go, traded or unprotected? Also, I see guys like Sparks and Carmona not making it past spring training next year.

This is just my personal opinion (and I'm a bit of an idiot so take all of this with a mountain of salt) but:

Rylan Bannon I think is a question mark; Elias made comments about him a few weeks ago about his hot streak, but he might be just blowing smoke or being a good boss and giving his guys some credence: https://www.masnsports.com/school-of-roch/2021/08/elias-on-september-expansion-diaz-rutschman-and-more.html. I want Bannon to succeed (I want all our guys to succeed) but he's not a stellar fielder and while he's a grinder at the plate, there is a lot of effort in that swing from the ABs I've seen and worry MLB pitchers will eat him up.

Cadyn Grenier, if he makes it to the majors, to me its going to be a Brandon Fahey/Luis Hernandez/David Newham type utility player. I just can't see how his bat will play when you look at the SOs and lack of power production. I'd probably put Bannon on the 40 man over Grenier, just for the simple fact you can squint and see Bannon as more of a Ryan Flaherty type than Grenier. 

Adam Hall, he's quick, he seems to have near top-grade speed and baserunning acumen, a rare trait these days. But with the velocity pitchers are now throwing with they're going to knock the bat out of his hands as he moves up. You can't inflate your OBP by stab-bunts and banking on the low-A infielders to misplay balls-in-play forever. 

Lamar Sparks is someone I want to see what he can do because it seems like people/pundits have talked for years about "He just needs a healthy year". Carmona, despite his success this year I think needs something else to really push his stock; whether that be power, speed, or fielding, though I will say seeing him taking a few more walks was nice. 

When I watch alot of these guys (as I do relatively frequently) I look for someone like Ramon Urias, solid bat-to-ball skills, pitch recognition, smart base running, and making the average play. To me, Urias is a good utility guy mold; if Urias can become the second-coming of Chris Gomez with a better glove I'd be thrilled. When I watch Grenier, Hall, Carmona, I'm not sure any of them are going to be able to do that. 

Again, just my two-cents, that's all just personal opinion from what I've watched.

 

[Just Regular]

1 hour ago, sportsfan8703 said:

Hernaiz is leading Delmarva in ABs this year.

I know some of this is a byproduct of him being a yearlong Shorebird, but I still like he's showed up all year.

When I look at our successes like Mancini, Means, Mullins, they all in their early 20's got all their reps.    As fun as it is to marvel at Mateo's speed or Ohtani in general, baseball is a skill acquisition sport and the best thing for it is games.   Mountcastle too, though with his pedigree his success is more expected.

[sportsfan8703]

A .679 OPS for a guy that will be 20 until 08/01/21 is not bad. Especially for a toolsy SS.  You can see the potential. 

[Paul in Virginia]

3 minutes ago, sportsfan8703 said:

A .679 OPS for a guy that will be 20 until 08/01/21 is not bad. Especially for a toolsy SS.  You can see the potential.