'Living a dream:' Rule 5 pick Hernandez impresses in debut

CINCINNATI -- The Pirates' bullpen gave Jose Hernandez the advice and reminders that a rookie probably needs to hear. "It's the same game." "It's the same baseball." "Just go out there and have fun."

But to actually appear in a big-league game? Well, the whole experience didn't feel quite real for the Pirates' Rule 5 pick, who pitched a scoreless eighth inning in the team's 6-2 loss to the Reds at Great American Ball Park Saturday.

"I still can't believe I pitched in the big leagues today," a beaming Hernandez said after the game, via interpreter Stephen Morales.

"I can't explain the emotions that I felt through the game," he also said. "It feels good to get the first one out of the way."

Making the jump from Class AA to the majors can be a daunting one, but one that Hernandez welcomes. Which is good news for the Pirates, because the bullpen could really use a left-handed option to turn to this year.

The Pirates came into spring training thinking free agent Jarlín García would be the primary lefty out of bullpen while Hernandez could be a secondary option if he earned a spot on the team. Most teams try to ease their Rule 5 picks into the majors, and Hernandez appeared to be set up to be that 13th pitcher. However, García has been dealing with a nerve injury this spring and is currently on the 60-day injured list. If the Pirates are lucky, they'll know his window of return in a couple weeks, but he's guaranteed to be out for at least two months.

Suddenly, Hernandez became a go-to lefty. Rob Zastryzny was also added to the roster and got the leverage spot against the pocket of lefties in the opening day win, but he's hardly an established major-league pitcher either. There's playing time to be won here, to be the go-to southpaw reliever.

"Super grateful for the opportunity the Pirates have given me," Hernandez said. "I'm just going to make the best out of the opportunity."

The first outing went pretty well. He topped 97 mph on his fastball, effectively used his three-pitch mix with his changeup and slider and kept Reds hitters off balance. While he did allow a bloop single and followed it up with a wild pitch, he got through his inning scoreless and with three batted balls with an exit velocity under 78 mph. He threw 15 pitches, 12 of which were strikes.

"I thought he did a good job," Derek Shelton said. "He came in, the first couple pitches out of his hand, the velo wasn’t what we thought it was going to be. I think he settled down nicely, and it’s good. Having that second lefty in the bullpen, we need to get him acclimated a little bit so we can use him in certain situations. Today, he came in and did a nice job and threw the ball on the plate."

It was an outing he probably needed given how bumpy his spring had been. Back in Florida, he recorded an 8.18 ERA over 11 innings, striking out 10 but allowing a WHIP of 2. That didn't scare the Pirates away though, choosing to focus on his potential rather than be scared away by his rawness.

"We’ve seen a lot of good things from Hernandez this spring," Ben Cherington said towards the end of spring training. "He’s been in the strike zone. His stuff is clearly there... He's been pretty effective overall."

The Pirates could use that lefty, especially in a bullpen that doesn't have many proven late-inning options. David Bednar and Colin Holderman were able to take care of the final two innings in the opener, but that duo won't always be available. It's probably too soon to give Hernandez that sort of role, but the Pirates are looking for strike throwers, and he can do that with upper-90s stuff.

But one outing in, so far, so good. The baseball is going to be framed -- he's deciding what he's going to do with it after that -- and he has a long list of people to call back home in the Dominican Republic. His mom, dad, agent, friends...

And oh yeah, soak in the moment. 

"[I'm] living a dream," Hernandez said. "Taking advantage of the opportunities and just live in the moment."

MORE FROM THE GAME

• Rich Hill's Pirates tenure got off to a shaky start, allowing a couple of home runs in the first: One to leadoff hitter Jonathan India, the second to former Pirate Kevin Newman.

While he would settle in after that home run and not allow another hit during his five-inning, seven strikeout outing, the damage had already been done. 

"This falls on me," Hill said. "[I] didn’t execute in that first inning and they did a good job of jumping all over my stuff, so you tip your hat. Unfortunately, that was the difference in the game. I've gotta be better moving forward."

Hill did strike out seven, making him one of seven active pitchers to reach 1,300 career strikeouts, but he was fairly dismissive about the accomplishment.

"Winning is more important," Hill said. "I understand that milestones happen. But that's an individual goal, and that's not why I'm here. I'm here for this group and for Pittsburgh. I want us to win."

• Chase De Jong surrendered a three run homer to Jake Fraley in the sixth that effectively put the game out of reach since the offense hit a skid against the Reds bullpen. They were able to force young starter Nick Lodolo out after just five innings and 109 pitches, with Connor Joe and Oneil Cruz picking up RBI singles along the way, but the last 16 Pirates hitters were retired in order.

"I thought we did a really good job for the first four inning with our approach," Shelton said. "We ran him [Lodolo] up over 105 pitches in a shorter outing. After that, we got away from our approach and there were too many quick outs."

"We fought every inning," Carlos Santana said after his multi-hit performance. "We lost the game, but tomorrow is a new day. Try to win two of three in the series."

• Hill is in line for the home opener start, Shelton confirmed before the game.

• JT Brubaker's elbow still being assessed, according to Shelton. The Pirates are hoping for more clarity on his status early this week.

They're still learning things, but there's a chance Brubaker could be out for a lot longer than just a trip to the 15-day injured list.

• Quiet on the Bryan Reynolds front at the moment after a very busy couple of days. He went 1-for-4 Saturday with a diving catch in left.

• Factoid of the game: Cruz is the first Pirate to drive in a run in each of his team's first two games since Corey Dickerson in 2019.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule
• Scoreboard

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE INJURIES

• 15-day injured list: RHP JT Brubaker (elbow), RHP Robert Stephenson (elbow)

• 60-day injured list: LHP Jarlin Garcia (elbow)

THE LINEUPS

Shelton's card:

1. Ke'Bryan Hayes, 3B
2. Bryan Reynolds, LF
3. Andrew McCutchen, DH
4. Carlos Santana, 1B
5. Connor Joe, RF
6. Oneil Cruz, SS
7. Rodolfo Castro, 2B
8. Ji Hwan Bae, CF
9. Austin Hedges, C

And for David Bell's Reds:

1. Jonathan India, 2B
2. Spencer Steer, 3B
3. Wil Myers, RF
4. Tyler Stephenson, C
5. Kevin Newman, DH
6. Stuart Fairchild, LF
7. Curt Casali, C
8. Jose Barrero, SS
9. TJ Fried, CF

THE SCHEDULE

The rubber match of this opening series will be Sunday at 1:40 p.m. Vince Velasquez will make his Pirates debut against Graham Ashcraft. I'll have you covered.

THE MULTIMEDIA

THE CONTENT

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