Closer breakout??

Spending most of his time through the minor leagues as a starting pitcher, Darwinzon Hernandez was called up last season by the Boston Red Sox and operated out of the bullpen for majority of his 30.1 innings (only 1 game started). In that time frame he opened up plenty of eyes with his 16.91 K/9, but was also overlooked due to his 7.71 K/9. He would pitch t a 4.45 ERA/2.75 FIP/3.57 xFIP and a 3.94 SIERA, very intriguing numbers despite the through the roof walk%. The high walk rate is a the main culprit when you look at his 1.75 WHIP. Something for me personally that really sticks out is the # of home runs he gave up only 1 home run and wasn't "barreled" all season long.

Throughout his minor league career Darwinzon Hernandez has never had good control, throughout the minors he only had 2 seasons of under 5 BB/9 with those seasons coming in 2015 (Rookie Ball) and in 2017 where he was at Low A.

Pitch Mix:

Hernandez is doing all of his with only 2 pitches essentially.

His pitch mix for the 2019 included a 4-seam fastball (74% usage), a Slider (25.1%) and a Curve-ball with a Sinker, both pitches were thrown less than 1% of the time (according to baseball savant). Even while only having a 2 pitch mix essentially he did a great job limiting hard contact (31.1%), and that number seems relatively sustainable if he can manage to work in a 3rd pitch (preferably his curve). His fastball sits mid 90's and opposing hitters had a 37.2% Whiff rate (according to baseball savant) and .326 slugging percentage/.205 slugging percentage, so that fastball is legit and could get even more terrifying if he learns to control it better. His slider was just as effective limiting batters to a .393 slugging percentage and a .277 expected slugging percentage. It'll all come down to him bringing in either his curve ball or sinker to keep the batters thinking.

Considering Boston doesn't seem to have a shutdown closer, Hernandez could be the guy they look to groom into that closer role. This could pay off huge for the Red Sox or if the walk rate never improves, could be a huge risk.