Jonathan Hernández (born July 6, 1996) is a Dominican-American professional baseball pitcher for the Texas Rangers of Major League Baseball (MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2019.
| Jonathan Hernández | |
|---|---|
| Texas Rangers – No. 72 | |
| Pitcher | |
| Born: (1996-07-06) July 6, 1996 (age 26) Memphis, Tennessee | |
Bats: Right Throws: Right | |
| MLB debut | |
| August 21, 2019, for the Texas Rangers | |
| MLB statistics (through 2022 season) | |
| Win–loss record | 9–5 |
| Earned run average | 3.23 |
| Strikeouts | 77 |
| Teams | |
| |
Hernández signed with the Texas Rangers as an international free agent on January 30, 2013 for a $300,000 signing bonus.[1] He spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons playing for the Dominican Summer League Rangers.[2] He spent the 2015 season with the Arizona Rangers of the Rookie-level Arizona League, going 1–1 with a 3.00 ERA in 45 innings.[3] He spent the 2016 season with the Hickory Crawdads of the Class A South Atlantic League, going 10–9 with a 4.56 ERA in 116+1⁄3 innings.[3]
Hernández started the 2017 season with the Hickory Crawdads of the Class A South Atlantic League[4] and was promoted to the Down East Wood Ducks of the Class A-Advanced Carolina League.[5] He was chosen to represent the Rangers in the All-Star Futures Game.[6] He combined for a 5–11 record with a 4.03 ERA over 111+2⁄3 innings in 2017.[3] The Rangers added him to their 40-man roster after the 2017 season.[7] He began the 2018 season with the Wood Ducks,[8] and received a midseason promotion to the Frisco RoughRiders of the Class AA Texas League.[9] Hernández posted a 4–2 record with a 2.20 ERA, with 77 strikeouts in 57+1⁄3 innings in 10 games (10 starts) with the Wood Ducks.[3] In 12 games (12 starts) with Frisco, he posted a 4–4 record with a 4.92 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 64 innings.[3] The Rangers optioned Hernández to Frisco to open the 2019 season,[10] and he went 5–9 with a 5.16 ERA over 96 innings with them.[11]
The Rangers promoted Hernández to the major leagues on August 20, 2019.[12] He made his major league debut on August 21 versus the Los Angeles Angels; pitching 2+1⁄3 scoreless innings and earning the win.[13] Hernández finished the season with Texas, going 2–1 with a 4.32 ERA and 19 strikeouts over 16+2⁄3 innings. In 2020, he went 5–1 with a 2.90 ERA and 31 strikeouts over 31 innings for Texas.[14]
On March 9, 2021, Hernández was shut down for at least four weeks after being diagnosed with a "low-grade" sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow.[15] On March 30, 2021, Hernández was placed on the 60-day injured list.[16] On April 12, 2021, Hernández underwent Tommy John surgery, ending his 2021 season.[17]
Hernández's father, Fernando Hernández, pitched in Major League Baseball.[18] Jonathan was born in Memphis, Tennessee, when his father played baseball there, but he was raised in the Dominican Republic.[1]