Kevison Hernandez: Data Friendly Fastball, Velocity Jump, Key To FCL Success

Kevison Hernandez combined a data friendly fastball with a midseason velocity bump to start racking up the strikeouts in the FCL.

Photo Credit: WTM

Really all you can ask for over the course of the season is for a player to show progress and that they are getting better, even if the overall numbers still aren’t the best.

That’s been the case for 21-year-old Kevison Hernandez, pitching this year for the Pirates in the Florida Complex League.

Information beyond general box score stats is generally hard to come by when it comes to the FCL, but with the home games getting streamed on YouTube, we’ve finally got a little extra to go by.

For Hernandez, it was one thing specifically that really stood out from the first game I watched from him, and then when I went back to watch a previous appearance he made on July 8.

The velocity was up, actually pretty significantly.

Of the 21-fastballs that I recorded from that outing, Hernandez averaged 90.7 mph. Compare that to next 21 he threw in a game later this season which was up to 94 and topping 96 a total of six times (eight if you count the sinkers).

Analytically, it’s a really solid looking fastball, with a high spin rate (2529 rpms) and 19-inches of induced vertical break (IVB).

That’s allowed him to put up some really good strike out numbers so far, with 35 in 25.1 innings pitched (29.2%).

Add in a sinker that averaged 95 mph and averaged 16.5-inches of horizontal movement, that’s a fairly strong fastball Hernandez is putting out there.

The issue has been control, with an insanely high 20% walk rate on the season. A rough start that saw him walk 28% of the batters he faced his first five appearances (while striking out 14%) ultimately flip flopped and has seen less free passes along with more punch outs (40 K%, 14 BB% since).

That includes his latest outing against the Red Sox FCL team that saw him pick up strike outs on six of the seven outs he recorded.

Already pitching out the bullpen in the lower levels doesn’t usually bode well for your future prospectus, especially when you add in being 21 and having control issues.

With some of the issues the Pirates had with pitching prospects and their fastball in the upper levels, it is intriguing when one starts to flash a strong one that can generate whiffs in the system, which Hernandez has that working for him.