A Few Observations from Delmarva's Game 5/4 (Hernaiz, Willems, De los Santos)

[ToadB22]

Darell Hernaiz was the best player on the field, and it wasn't close. He was hitting the ball hard, even if he only had one hit. He had a clear plan at the plate, and has a pretty big swing - looking to launch the ball and drive it. The Shorebirds nearly turned an incredible double play in the 6th, with Hernaiz making a great turn playing 2nd base - but the 1B Cruz came off the bag a bit. Hernaiz also seems to have a really high baseball IQ. On a play where the runner at first was stealing, the batter hit a sharp grounder to him, and was quick enough to still throw to the SS to get the lead out. All of this to say, I was really impressed by Hernaiz.

Creed Willems looked absolutely lost. Half-swings on 0-0 counts, swinging at balls outside the zone - he looked like he had no plan, and was overmatched. This is really sad since none of the Firefly pitchers had overwhelming stuff (even though the starter, Cameron, threw a perfect 5-innings, it was 87-88 with a decent changeup). It wasn't pretty, guys.

Juan De los Santos had great stuff. He was 91-93 (according to the stadium gun), and the home run he gave up was the only hard hit ball against him the whole game. He had 6 k's in 4 innings, and was in control the entire time. He had 3 walks, and some of them seemed like they were on close pitches, and it never felt like he was going to give up the big hit. I'm going to follow him a lot closer. Also, he is a large man. I didn't realize how big he was. He is listed at 6'3" 250lbs, and he just looks like a man among boys. His physique reminds me of Jose Contreras.

A few other tidbits: Luis Valdez had himself a game. He had a great catch in CF with runners on (played some 3B later in the game also), a HR, and a SB. He is 22, but played really well. Moises Ramirez didn't have any hits, but hit the ball hard a few times. He seems like he'll bust out of his slump soon. 

[glenn__davis]

Thanks for the observations.

Obviously VERY early on Willems, but I'm sure whoever recommended giving him a million bucks would like to see him start hitting a bit better soon.

[Frobby]

Great observations.  I love reading eyewitness accounts.  

Yeah, Willems is looking like he’s overmatched, just looking at the box scores.  1 hit in 19 AB, 8 K’s.   But it’s early.  At least he’s thrown out a few runners (3/6)!
 

[Frobby]

The Shorebirds are last in the Carolina league in runs scored per game, at 3.65. They’re third from the bottom in runs allowed per game, at 6.13.   Their overall record is 7-16.    

I think there are two root causes here.   First, Elias has drafted mostly college guys, and that crew from last summer got to Delmarva then and got promoted to Aberdeen this year.   There weren’t a lot of HS guys to fill the void.  Second, the Latin American players are mostly from the July 2019 class, Perez’s first crop while playing catch-up with the other teams.  So, it’s not that strong a group.   Hopefully they’ll get some reinforcements as the year goes along.  But they’ll probably lose Hernaiz, who really belongs in Aberdeen.  
 

[Just Regular]

I'd be interested to hear how big Hernaiz looked.

I remember a month ago the huge delta between Felix Bautista (still at 6-5, 190 on B-Ref this morning) listings from when he signed at 17 and today.   Brown said in telecast Bautista gave him I believe a 6-8, 270 report.

B-Ref has Hernaiz at 6-1, 190 today, but don't know if those measureables are from when he affiliated as a young draftee way back when.    Wondering if he looks more like Jorge Mateo or Carlos Correa, physically.

[Just Regular]

Hopefully in a month Heston Kjerstad becomes an odd duck in that lineup.

Hopefully not for more than a month.

[ToadB22]

1 minute ago, Just Regular said:

I'd be interested to hear how big Hernaiz looked.

I remember a month ago the huge delta between Felix Bautista (still at 6-5, 190 on B-Ref this morning) listings from when he signed at 17 and today.   Brown said in telecast Bautista gave him I believe a 6-8, 270 report.

B-Ref has Hernaiz at 6-1, 190 today, but don't know if those measureables are from when he affiliated as a young draftee way back when.    Wondering if he looks more like Jorge Mateo or Carlos Correa, physically.

6-1, 190 seems pretty close. Maybe a little more weight, but I wouldn't think more than 200. I am actually a little surprised to hear he is listed at 6-1, I would have thought he was shorter than that.

[bobmc]

57 minutes ago, ToadB22 said:

Darell Hernaiz was the best player on the field, and it wasn't close. He was hitting the ball hard, even if he only had one hit. He had a clear plan at the plate, and has a pretty big swing - looking to launch the ball and drive it. The Shorebirds nearly turned an incredible double play in the 6th, with Hernaiz making a great turn playing 2nd base - but the 1B Cruz came off the bag a bit. Hernaiz also seems to have a really high baseball IQ. On a play where the runner at first was stealing, the batter hit a sharp grounder to him, and was quick enough to still throw to the SS to get the lead out. All of this to say, I was really impressed by Hernaiz.

Creed Willems looked absolutely lost. Half-swings on 0-0 counts, swinging at balls outside the zone - he looked like he had no plan, and was overmatched. This is really sad since none of the Firefly pitchers had overwhelming stuff (even though the starter, Cameron, threw a perfect 5-innings, it was 87-88 with a decent changeup). It wasn't pretty, guys.

Juan De los Santos had great stuff. He was 91-93 (according to the stadium gun), and the home run he gave up was the only hard hit ball against him the whole game. He had 6 k's in 4 innings, and was in control the entire time. He had 3 walks, and some of them seemed like they were on close pitches, and it never felt like he was going to give up the big hit. I'm going to follow him a lot closer. Also, he is a large man. I didn't realize how big he was. He is listed at 6'3" 250lbs, and he just looks like a man among boys. His physique reminds me of Jose Contreras.

A few other tidbits: Luis Valdez had himself a game. He had a great catch in CF with runners on (played some 3B later in the game also), a HR, and a SB. He is 22, but played really well. Moises Ramirez didn't have any hits, but hit the ball hard a few times. He seems like he'll bust out of his slump soon. 

Here is the Valdez blast!

 

[scarey1999]

Thank you for this. Great report. 

I was wondering when someone was going to talk about De Los Santos. 19YO with a huge frame performing very well this far. I’ll be following him for sure. 

Valdez is also interesting even though he’s 22. He hasn’t gotten on the field much because he signed in mid 2019 and then Covid hit of course. Seems to have some speed and maybe developing pop as well as even though he has a smaller frame at 5’11” 165lbs…though as we know that may have changed since he was signed. He looks a little bigger than that to me in the HR video. Could be a candidate for a faster promotion path if he keeps performing and improving. 

[Tony-OH]

7 hours ago, ToadB22 said:

Darell Hernaiz was the best player on the field, and it wasn't close. He was hitting the ball hard, even if he only had one hit. He had a clear plan at the plate, and has a pretty big swing - looking to launch the ball and drive it. The Shorebirds nearly turned an incredible double play in the 6th, with Hernaiz making a great turn playing 2nd base - but the 1B Cruz came off the bag a bit. Hernaiz also seems to have a really high baseball IQ. On a play where the runner at first was stealing, the batter hit a sharp grounder to him, and was quick enough to still throw to the SS to get the lead out. All of this to say, I was really impressed by Hernaiz.

Creed Willems looked absolutely lost. Half-swings on 0-0 counts, swinging at balls outside the zone - he looked like he had no plan, and was overmatched. This is really sad since none of the Firefly pitchers had overwhelming stuff (even though the starter, Cameron, threw a perfect 5-innings, it was 87-88 with a decent changeup). It wasn't pretty, guys.

Juan De los Santos had great stuff. He was 91-93 (according to the stadium gun), and the home run he gave up was the only hard hit ball against him the whole game. He had 6 k's in 4 innings, and was in control the entire time. He had 3 walks, and some of them seemed like they were on close pitches, and it never felt like he was going to give up the big hit. I'm going to follow him a lot closer. Also, he is a large man. I didn't realize how big he was. He is listed at 6'3" 250lbs, and he just looks like a man among boys. His physique reminds me of Jose Contreras.

A few other tidbits: Luis Valdez had himself a game. He had a great catch in CF with runners on (played some 3B later in the game also), a HR, and a SB. He is 22, but played really well. Moises Ramirez didn't have any hits, but hit the ball hard a few times. He seems like he'll bust out of his slump soon. 

Nice observations. Look forward to you watching more games and giving your thoughts in the future!

Hernaiz has looked much different at the plate and is hitting the ball with more authority than a year ago. He really looks like he's gotten stronger. Unfortunately he's got throwing issues. His arm is not SS strong, but he's really struggled with his accuracy on his throws whether that's from SS or 2B.

The only thing I'll say about Willems is I can see why he couldn't make the team out of spring training. He looks over weight, over matched, and quite honestly, looks out of place on a professional diamond right now. It will be very interesting to see how he develops because I don't think he was very high on many teams radars yet the Orioles gave him $1 million over slot to sign him. Nice arm though and for now, he moves ok behind the plate but we'll see how that goes as he matures.

De Los Santos is a guy to watch. Nothing is his stuff makes you go wow, but worth watching as he moves up the chain.