Hernandez brings six seasons of affiliated experience to Cleburne, all with the Arizona Diamondbacks organization. Signed as an 18-year-old in 2014, Hernandez made his debut that season with Arizona’s Dominican Summer League affiliate, and eventually climbed to Double-A Jackson in 2019. Along the way he posted a career .266/.315/.425 slash line, with 53 home runs and 270 RBI.
The right-handed hitter has posted three seasons with an OPS of at least .775. His best campaign came in 2016 split across three levels. Hernandez started the year at Rookie-level Missoula, crushing opposing pitching to the tune of a .337 batting average and 10 extra-base hits in 98 at-bats. From there he was promoted to Low-A Hillsboro, where he clubbed eight more extra-base hits in 83 at-bats, including a pair of home runs. Hernandez spent the remainder of the season with Class-A Kane County, the most recent addition to the American Association.
In 2017, Hernandez more than doubled his previous home run output, launching 13 long balls to go along with 21 doubles for the Cougars. He finished the year with a .294 average and 20 walks, both the second-highest marks of his career. Kane County’s manager was Butch Hobson, the current manager of the American Association’s Chicago Dogs. Hernandez was also a teammate of current Railroaders outfielder Zach Nehrir, who was with the Cougars in both 2016 and 2017.
Hernandez continued the power surge in 2018 with new highs in doubles (28), home runs (20) and RBI (77) while a member of High-A Visalia. That performance earned him a promotion the following year to Double-A Jackson, where he added 11 more round-trippers to go along with a .236 average.
The native of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic made a brief appearance for Licey in the Dominican Winter League this past winter, suiting up for a Tigres club that had 31 major leaguers on the roster throughout the season.
