Jonathan Hernández (born July 6, 1996) is a

Dominican-American Dominican Americans ( es, domínico-americanos, ) are Americans who trace their ancestry to the Dominican Republic. The word may refer to someone born in the United States of Dominican descent or to someone who has migrated to the United Stat ...

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Mod ...

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or draw ...

for the Texas Rangers of

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB). He made his MLB debut in 2019.

Career

Hernández signed with the Texas Rangers as an international free agent on January 30, 2013 for a $300,000

signing bonus A signing bonus or sign-on bonus is a sum of money paid to a new employee (including a professional sports person) by a company as an incentive to join that company. They are often given as a way of making a compensation package more attractive ...

. He spent the 2013 and 2014 seasons playing for the

Dominican Summer League Rangers The Dominican Summer League Rangers or DSL Rangers are a Minor League Baseball team of the Dominican Summer League and Rookie affiliates of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Boca Chica, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Since 2014, the tea ...

. He spent the 2015 season with the

Arizona Rangers The Arizona Rangers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, noncommissioned civilian auxiliary that supports law enforcement in the US, state of Arizona. In 2002, the modern-day Arizona Rangers were officially recognized by the State of Arizona when the Leg ...

of the Rookie-level

Arizona League The Arizona Complex League (ACL) is a rookie-level Minor League Baseball league that operates in and around Phoenix, Arizona, since 1988. Prior to 2021, it was known as the Arizona League (AZL). Along with the Florida Complex League (FCL), it f ...

, going 1–1 with a 3.00 ERA in 45 innings. He spent the 2016 season with the

Hickory Crawdads The Hickory Crawdads are a Minor League Baseball team of the South Atlantic League (SAL) and the High-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Hickory, North Carolina, and play their home games at L. P. Frans Stadium, which opened i ...

of the Class A

South Atlantic League The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its ...

, going 10–9 with a 4.56 ERA in innings. Hernández started the 2017 season with the

of the Class A

and was promoted to the

Down East Wood Ducks The Down East Wood Ducks are a Minor League Baseball team of the Carolina League and the owned-and-operated Single-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers. They are located in Kinston, North Carolina, and are named for the wood duck, a local colorful wa ...

of the

Class A-Advanced High-A (officially Class High-A, formerly known as Class A-Advanced, and sometimes abbreviated "A+" in writing) is the third-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States and Canada, below Triple-A and Double-A, and abov ...

Carolina League The Carolina League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated along the Atlantic Coast of the United States since 1945. Having been classified at various levels throughout its existence, it operated at Class A-Advanced from 1990 unti ...

. He was chosen to represent the Rangers in the

All-Star Futures Game The All-Star Futures Game is an annual baseball exhibition game hosted by Major League Baseball (MLB) in conjunction with the mid-summer MLB All-Star Game. A team of American League-affiliated prospects competes against a team of National League ...

. He combined for a 5–11 record with a 4.03 ERA over innings in 2017. The Rangers added him to their 40-man roster after the 2017 season. He began the 2018 season with the Wood Ducks, and received a midseason promotion to the

Frisco RoughRiders The Frisco RoughRiders (often shortened to 'Riders) are a Minor League Baseball team of the Texas League and the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Texas Rangers (baseball), Texas Rangers. They are located in Frisco, Texas, and are nam ...

of the

Class AA Double-A (officially Class AA) is the second-highest level of play in Minor League Baseball in the United States since 1946, below only Triple-A. There are currently 30 teams classified at the Double-A level, one for each team in Major League ...

Texas League The Texas League is a Minor League Baseball league which has operated in the South Central United States since 1902. It is classified as a Double-A league. Despite the league's name, only its five South Division teams are actually based in the ...

. Hernández posted a 4–2 record with a 2.20 ERA, with 77 strikeouts in innings in 10 games (10 starts) with the Wood Ducks. In 12 games (12 starts) with Frisco, he posted a 4–4 record with a 4.92 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 64 innings. The Rangers

optioned In the film industry, an option is a contractual agreement pertaining to film rights between a potential film producer (such as a movie studio, a production company, or an individual) and the author of source material, such as a book, play, or s ...

Hernández to Frisco to open the 2019 season, and he went 5–9 with a 5.16 ERA over 96 innings with them. The Rangers promoted Hernández to the major leagues on August 20, 2019. He made his major league debut on August 21 versus the

Los Angeles Angels The Los Angeles Angels are an American professional baseball team based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Angels compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) West division. Since 1966, the team ha ...

; pitching scoreless innings and earning the win. Hernández finished the season with Texas, going 2–1 with a 4.32 ERA and 19 strikeouts over innings. In 2020, he went 5–1 with a 2.90 ERA and 31 strikeouts over 31 innings for Texas. On March 9, 2021, Hernández was shut down for at least four weeks after being diagnosed with a "low-grade" sprain of his ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow. On March 30, 2021, Hernández was placed on the 60-day injured list. On April 12, 2021, Hernández underwent

Tommy John surgery Ulnar collateral ligament reconstruction, colloquially known as Tommy John surgery (TJS), is a surgical graft procedure where the ulnar collateral ligament in the medial elbow is replaced with either a tendon from elsewhere in the patient's bo ...

and missed the 2021 season. Following completion of rehabilitation assignments, Hernández returned to action for Texas in July 2022. He finished that season after posting a 2–3 record with a 2.97 ERA and 27 strikeouts over innings. On January 13, 2023, Hernández agreed to a one-year, $995K contract with the Rangers, avoiding salary arbitration.

Personal life

Hernández's father, Fernando Hernández, pitched in

. Jonathan was born in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, when his father played baseball there, but he was raised in the Dominican Republic.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hernández, Jonathan 1996 births Living people American sportspeople of Dominican Republic descent Baseball players from Memphis, Tennessee Major League Baseball pitchers Texas Rangers players Dominican Summer League Rangers players Arizona League Rangers players Hickory Crawdads players Down East Wood Ducks players Frisco RoughRiders players Round Rock Express players Águilas Cibaeñas players American expatriate baseball players in the Dominican Republic

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links