Hernandez 'locks in' with four strikeouts

SARASOTA, Fla. -- Darwinzon Hernandez’s first inning Friday afternoon was quite an adventure, but it had one thing in common with every other frame the left-hander has thrown this spring: it concluded with another zero on the scoreboard.

Boston’s top pitching prospect (the club’s No. 4 overall prospect, according to MLB Pipeline) fired three scoreless innings against the Orioles before Baltimore bounced back for a 4-2 win over the Red Sox at Ed Smith Stadium.

Hernandez worked around a walk and two hit batsmen, striking out a pair of Orioles to escape the early jam. He also got an assist from catcher Christian Vázquez, who threw DJ Stewart out at second base on a would-be double-steal for the second out.

But Vazquez’s biggest contribution came after the inning, when he and talked to his 22-year-old batterymate about slowing himself down on the mound.

“In the first inning, I was a little fast,” Hernandez said through a translator. “My mechanics were a little off. When I came into the dugout, Christian Vazquez talked to me and so did the pitching coach. They told me [to] calm down and not be so fast. Thanks to those guys, I was able to lock in and control my tempo.”

Hernandez responded with a perfect second inning, again striking out two batters. He allowed a leadoff hit in the third, but got out of the inning without any damage thanks to a Trey Mancini double play.

“The first inning, he was so excited to be on the mound,” Vazquez said. “I told him to calm down; he was working too fast. He was trying to throw strikes, but he was wild. The second and third innings, he was perfect. Everything was smooth and he calmed down. He was attacking the zone.”

“Impressive,” manager Alex Cora said. “He slowed down and his delivery was a lot cleaner in the second inning. For a young kid, he let the stuff play in the strike zone and did a good job.”

Prior to the game, Cora lauded the lefty’s stuff, though he acknowledged that consistency remains an issue for Hernandez. That said, he believes Hernandez “looks like he belongs.”

“This is a guy that is going to contribute,” Cora added. “I’m not saying March 28 or in September; in between that, he’s going to be a part of this and he’s going to make an impact.”

In seven shutout innings this spring, Hernandez has allowed four hits and four walks, striking out 10.

“It does feel good that the manager said that about me,” Hernandez said. “I just want to impress people and really focus on my throwing and my pitching. I’m not really worried about anything else.”

Catching up

The catching situation has yet to sort itself out, as Vazquez, Sandy Leon and Blake Swihart remain on the roster, but Cora reiterated Friday that the Red Sox are “most likely” to have only two catchers on the roster when camp breaks.

The likely scenario would be for one of the catchers to be traded, though it remained to be seen which one might be shipped out of town.

“We know that the three are good; it’s just a matter of which route we take,” Cora said. “There’s other stuff that’s outside our world that comes into play.”

Vazquez is 1-for-19 this spring following an 0-for-3 game Friday, though he’s in the first year of a three-year, $13.55 million contract. Leon (4-for-15 with a home run) is a favorite receiver of many Sox pitchers, while Swihart (3-for-10) has started a total of 16 games behind the plate over the past two seasons combined.

Still, Cora said he would be comfortable with any combination of two from the group.

“They know the system; we trust them,” Cora said. “People might feel we don’t trust Blake, but he caught one big inning in the World Series and the last time he caught, I can’t even remember. We’ll sit down as a group and we’ll talk about it. We know the three guys, we know what they bring to the table.”

Start it up

Chris Sale is scheduled to pitch a game against Red Sox Minor Leaguers on Monday, which is a scheduled off-day for the big league team.

None of the team’s top four starters have appeared in a game yet, though that will end in the coming days. Rick Porcello is scheduled to start against the Rays on Sunday, while David Price (Tuesday vs. Tigers) and Nathan Eovaldi (Wednesday vs. Twins) should make their 2019 Grapefruit League debuts next week.

Up next

LHP Eduardo Rodriguez makes his third start of the spring while Dustin Pedroia plays his second game of the spring as the Mets visit JetBlue Park on Saturday. RHP Zack Wheeler is slated to start for the Mets, with first pitch scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET.