I went to watch Runelvys Hernandez pitch this afternoon in Omaha in what was supposed to be a tune up before he came up to join the Royals rotation this coming week in Tampa. Reports say he's down 20 pounds from the spring and that he looked sharp in the process of throwing 94 pitches in a simulated game last Tuesday.The Runelvys Hernandez who showed up today didn't look to be in much better shape and he certainly wasn't sharp. Here's his unofficial line: 8 ER, 7 H, 4 BB in 3 innings of work. He threw 72 pitches by my count. He was up in the zone and the Nashville Sounds jumped all over him. Nashville catcher Mike Rivera hit a towering home run to left field in the third inning and lefty first baseman Brad Nelson took him deep to the opposite field.
Hernandez still looks out of shape and he had an extremely difficult time getting ahead in the count. He seemed to think he could go right after every hitter with his fastball and slider without ever changing speeds. Unfortunately, he couldn't even throw his hard stuff for strikes. I don't see how Baird or Bell can think about bringing him up and starting him in Tampa next weekend. He's not ready.
Here are a few photos of Hernandez, and one of Casey the mascot:
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