2nd chance pays off for All-Star Hernández 

Just over two years ago, the Blue Jays optioned a struggling Teoscar Hernández to Triple-A. At 26, he looked like another outfielder who was too talented to move on from, but not consistent enough to take that next step.

Hernández was hitting .189 with a .562 OPS at the time, and the night before his demotion, he’d gone 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in San Francisco. Add in some ugly defense, and nothing was working.

• MLB All-Star Game: Tuesday on FOX

“He hasn’t looked good lately. For sure his confidence is down,” said Toronto manager Charlie Montoyo, always a supporter of Hernández's, back in 2019. “Everybody can tell by looking at him.”

Today, Hernández is an All-Star, with a Silver Slugger Award already in his back pocket from a breakout 2020 season. It’s been a stunning turnaround for the young slugger, who’s gone from a tantalizing talent to one of the most feared hitters in one of baseball’s most dangerous lineups. Looking back on that turning point in his career, Hernández has an appreciation for what the time away from the big leagues allowed him to do.

“I saw it as another opportunity to get better,” Hernández said. “I know it’s hard when you’re not having a good season to make adjustments, when you’re having a bad time in the big leagues. As soon as they sent me down, I tried to do things different and tried to regroup my mind, my body and the way I was going through the process of the big leagues.”

When Hernández returned to the Major Leagues in 2019, he hit 23 home runs with an .873 OPS over his final 86 games, finally showing a more consistent version of the flashes he’d always teased fans with. He carried that right into the 2020 season, too, during which he was the most important bat in the lineup. It all started when Hernández borrowed a little something from a teammate.

“I was trying to find something where I don’t have to move a lot,” Hernández explained. “My hands and my body, I tried to simplify everything that I was doing in my movement and when I was getting set to swing the bat. Last year I saw Bo Bichette, and that was one of the biggest changes that I made. His two-strike approach -- I made it my stance. That way, I feel like my body doesn’t move. I feel like I can get ready easier and be ready to hit the ball.”

All Hernández ever needed was that small adjustment. Even as he struggled in 2019, there was a common message you’d hear from those within the Blue Jays organization. With Hernández’s swing and physical gifts, he should be a star … it just wasn’t happening.

The change comes from Hernández’s mental approach to hitting as well. Yes, the strikeouts are still there and likely always will be, but he’s offsetting that with power now and doing a better job of driving the ball the other way instead of getting pull happy. It’s been a treat for hitting coach Guillermo Martinez, who broke into a smile the moment he was asked about Hernández, who he calls “an amazing human being.”

“He’s my assistant hitting coach,” Martinez said. “I mess around with him all the time and say he’s my assistant hitting coach, because I’m always asking him questions about what he might see. We have a great relationship. As a player, he helps me out as a coach.”

Hernández will be joined in Colorado by three teammates -- including Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who led all MLB players in votes. Marcus Semien is the club’s third All-Star starter, while Bichette earned his first All-Star nod as a reserve shortstop. That group has made up the top four of the Blue Jays’ lineup for most of the season, so it’s no surprise that they've been the club’s biggest strength.

The recognition was an emotional moment for Hernández. He was watching the announcement show, but his feed was a bit behind when the texts started rolling in, at which point the celebration began with his family.

Hernández took his first professional at-bats a decade ago in the Dominican Summer League, still a member of the Astros organization. It was at the 2017 Trade Deadline he came to the Blue Jays in the Francisco Liriano deal, and even though the talent was evident, no one could have predicted this.

“There are a lot of things that go through my mind. All of those years, there were a lot of ups and downs," Hernández said. "There were a lot of bad moments through my Minor League career, but everything I’ve done is paying off right now. I feel really good about the things I have done. I’m going to keep working. I’m going to keep trying to do things right, and the right way.”