The Giants signed veteran right-handed reliever David Hernandez to a minor-league deal Tuesday, to provide depth to a bullpen that saw three veterans walk this offseason.
Hernandez, 31, is a Sacramento native, and that’s where he will likely start his season, with the Giants’ Triple-A affiliate. Though he may not be on the big league club initially, Giants analyst Marty Lurie told KNBR’s Ryan Covey that Hernandez may end up being a big piece of the bullpen in 2017.
“(I said) the one piece they could still use is sort of that veteran right hander to help the eighth inning, and I felt a lot better when I came to camp on Tuesday morning and saw David Hernandez from Sacramento,” Lurie said. “Formally of course with the Orioles, the Diamondbacks, the Phillies — big arm. This is his second year after Tommy John so he should be coming back strong. Throws a good fastball, very smart, and if he’s got control, he’s a guy who could absolutely make this team — not necessarily out of Spring Training, he’ll probably stay in Sacramento, but certainly during the year with this 10-day DL and not wanting to push (Derek) Law and (Hunter) Strickland that hard because they’ve had arm injuries. I think David Hernandez becomes a very big piece of the puzzle and I like it.”
Hernandez’ 4.10 career ERA isn’t great, but his 9.1 strikeouts per 9 innings is impressive. Hernandez’ biggest issue in the past has been giving up the long ball, something that should be helped by pitching in AT&T Park. Hernandez posted a 3.84 ERA in 72.2 innings of relief with the Phillies last year. He will be competing with Cory Gearrin, George Kontos, Derek Law, and Hunter Strickland for a right-handed spot behind Mark Melancon.
Lurie also commented on the new 10-day DL rules, and how it might affect the Giants’ decisions next season.
“Absolutely (it give the manager’s more flexibility) you don’t have to wait five or six days to see if the player’s gonna come back, because it puts pressure on the player, pressure on the agents, the manager — to see if the player could play,” Lurie said. “Now you just put him on the DL right away and he’s gone for 10 days and you know what’s going to go on. Especially with pitchers, because this way if you feel a guy’s being used too much you could put him on the 10-day DL, bring up somebody, and then it’s sort of like a little vacation that could turn out to be seven or eight games with the days off. I think the other thing that becomes important are players with options, because if you’ve got options then you’re the guy who can come back and forth like Juan Perez. You’re the guy in Sacramento that can come up and down six times throughout the year, so keep your eye on players with options in Sacramento, I think they are gonna play a big part in the team this year.”
Listen to the full interview below.