Detroit Tigers Trade Ideas: Starting Pitcher Elieser Hernández

According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald,  the Miami Marlins right-hander Elieser Hernández is on the trading block. Should the Detroit Tigers inquire about his services?

Now that the Detroit Tigers have an Opening Day date all set, the team will focus on bullpen help and potentially another starter. According to Barry Jackson of the Miami Herald, the Marlins may move right-hander starter Elieser Hernández.

The Marlins are loaded with starting pitching with Sandy Alcantara, Trevor Rogers, Pablo Lopez and they picked up Jesus Luzardo from Oakland at the 2021 trade deadline with Max Meyer, Edward Cabrera and Sixto Sanchez, if he can stay healthy.

Who is Elieser Hernández?

Elieser was born in Venezuela. The Marlins got him from Houston in the minor league portion of the Rule 5 draft in 2017. He was called up to Miami in 2018 and, after pitching mainly out of the bullpen, he was switched to a full-time starter in 2019.

He posted an ERA of 4.18 in 51 innings pitched last season as he missed time on the 60 day IL because of a leg injury he suffered against the Pirates in June and right biceps inflammation during two different parts of the season. He struck out 53 and what stands out is his walk rate, which was among the 80th percentile in all of baseball, with walks per 9 of just 2.4.

According to Baseball Savant, he throws a four-seam fastball, slider and change, with his fastball and slider being his two most used pitches. He doesn’t have a lot of velocity or have tremendous spin on it, throwing it on an average of 90 MPH but has good vertical movement (1.2 against the league average) ,which allows him to set up his slider, which batters hit just .185 against in 2021, (XBA of .182) produced a run value of -4 and a whiff rate of 32.7%.

His third pitch, his changeup, which he threw just 12% of the time, also adds another dimension to his game. The pitch has good tumbling action and batters hit just hit .158 against (XBA of .249).

There are concerns including the injury history and batters hitting .354 against his four-seamer. Miami is looking for bats to add to the lineup. While the Marlins picked up a lefty bat in Joey Wendle in the off-season, it really depends on what the Tigers will give up. But with a crowded rotation, having Hernández in the back end of the rotation until the likes of Beau Brieske or Garrett Hill could step in, it is worth considering what he can offer with his secondary pitches.