Rangers 40-Man Roster Wraps: Jonathan Hernandez

Jonathan Hernandez was one of two hard-throwing young relievers who made their way back from Tommy John Surgery in 2022.

InsidetheRangers.com will review each of the players on the Texas Rangers 40-man roster at the conclusion of the 2022 season.

P Jonathan Hernández

Statistics for 2022: Hernández went 2-3 with a 2.97 ERA in 29 games (all in relief). He had four saves and three holds. He threw 30 1/3 innings, giving up 26 hits, 14 runs (10 earned), two home runs and 17 walks. He struck out 27. Batters hit .232 against him and he had a 1.42 WHIP.

Season Transactions: Hernández started the season on the Rangers’ 60-day injured list. He was assigned to Triple-A Round Rock on June 3 for a rehab assignment. The Rangers transferred that assignment to Double-A Frisco on July 13. The Rangers called him up on July 16.

Season Summary: Hernández missed all of the 2021 season as he was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery, like fellow reliever Jose Leclerc, who had his option for next season picked up. It took him a bit longer than Leclerc to work his back to the bullpen. Once he did, he quickly started showing the high velocity stuff that the Rangers have been enamored with since he broke in with them in 2019. He did a short turn as a closer, but eventually started working as Leclerc’s set-up man in September. His numbers for 2020 and 2022 are interesting. He worked nearly the same amount of games, the same amount of innings and threw nearly the same amount of pitches. His performance changed in two areas — he walked more hitters (17 in 2022 compared to eight in 2020) and struck out fewer hitters (27 in 2022 compared to 31 in 2020).

Contract Status: Hernández is arbitration-eligible for the first time.

What’s next: Hernández walks into spring training next year as a candidate to be the closer, along with Leclerc and Joe Barlow. One could argue that he has the best stuff of the three pitchers, but it will be up to Hernández to prove he’s ready to take on the role. Otherwise, he remains a solid set-up man when the Rangers have a late lead.

2022 Texas Rangers 40-Man Roster Wraps:

Ezequiel Duran | A.J. Alexy | Josh Smith | Tyson Miller | Corey Seager | Joe Barlow | Leody Taveras | Brad Miller | Drew Strotman | Josh Jung | Jon Gray | Taylor Hearn | Mitch Garver | Kevin Plawecki | Mark Mathias | John King | Charlie Culberson | Adolis García | Andy Ibáñez | Cole Ragans | Kole Calhoun | Brett Martin | Jose Leclerc | Marcus Semien | Matt Moore | Glenn Otto | Eli White | Jesus Tinoco | Sam Huff |

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