Oscar Eduardo Hernández Rios (born July 9, 1993) is a Venezuelan professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball sport played between two team sport, teams of nine players each, taking turns batting (baseball), batting and Fielding (baseball), fielding. The game occurs over the course of several Pitch ...

catcher Catcher is a position in baseball and softball. When a batter takes their turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the (home) umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to this primary duty, the catc ...

who is a free agent. He has previously played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball league composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (baseball), National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada. MLB i ...

(MLB) for the

Arizona Diamondbacks The Arizona Diamondbacks are an American professional baseball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West Division. The franchise was established ...

and

Kansas City Royals The Kansas City Royals are an American professional baseball team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Royals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League Central, Central Division. The team ...

. Listed at and , he throws and bats right-handed.

Career

Tampa Bay Rays

Hernández signed with the

Tampa Bay Rays The Tampa Bay Rays are an American professional baseball team based in the Tampa Bay area. The Rays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. They are one of two major ...

as an international free agent in 2009. He made his professional debut with the Venezuelan Summer League Rays in 2010. In 2011, Hernández returned to the VSL Rays, slashing a torrid .402/.503/.732 with 21 home runs and 66 RBI in 69 games with the team. He was promoted to the Rookie-level Princeton Rays in 2012, where he hit .231/.349/.394 with 5 home runs and 24 RBI. He split the 2013 season between the Low-A Hudson Valley Renegades and the Single-A Bowling Green Hot Rods, accumulating a .227/.286/.364 slash line in 46 games between the two teams. He returned to Bowling Green for the 2014 season, posting a .249/.301/.401 slash line with 9 home runs and 63 RBI.

Arizona Diamondbacks

Hernández was selected by the

from the Rays with the first overall pick in the 2014

Rule 5 draft The Rule 5 draft is a Major League Baseball (MLB) player draft that occurs each year in December, at the annual Winter Meeting of general managers. The Rule 5 draft aims to prevent teams from stockpiling too many young players on their minor lea ...

. Hernández began the 2015 season on the

disabled list In Major League Baseball (MLB), the injured list (IL) is a method for teams to remove their injured players from the roster in order to summon healthy players. Before the 2019 Major League Baseball season, 2019 season, it was known as the disabl ...

after breaking a bone in his left hand. He had a rehabilitation assignment in June with the Triple-A Reno Aces and the Single-A Kane County Cougars, then was activated to the Diamondbacks' MLB roster on July 4. Hernández made his MLB debut on July 12, 2015, and appeared in 31 games for the 2015 Diamondbacks, batting .161/.257/.194. In 2016, he appeared in four MLB games with Arizona, batting .182 with one home run, which came on August 10 off of Jerry Blevins, helping the Diamondbacks defeat the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the Boroughs of New York City, New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National ...

, 3−2, at

Citi Field Citi Field is a baseball park, baseball stadium located in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, in the Boroughs of New York, borough of Queens, New York City, United States. Opened in 2009, Citi Field is the home of Major League Baseball's New York M ...

in 12 innings. His bulk of work in 2016 came in Double-A with the Mobile BayBears and in High-A with the

Visalia Rawhide The Visalia Rawhide are a Minor League Baseball team of the California League and the Single-A affiliate of the Arizona Diamondbacks. They are located in Visalia, California, and have played their home games at Valley Strong Ballpark since their ...

. He was assigned to the Double-A Jackson Generals to begin the 2017 season. On June 23, 2017, Hernández was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks, removing him from their

40-man roster A Major League Baseball roster is a list of players who are allowed, by league agreement, to play for a Major League Baseball (MLB) team. Each MLB team maintains two rosters: an active roster of players eligible to participate in an MLB game, an ...

. He was outrighted to Jackson on June 27, and remained in Double-A to finish the year, logging a

slash line This is an alphabetical list of selected unofficial and specialized terms, phrases, and other jargon used in baseball, along with their definitions, including illustrative examples for many entries. 0–9 0 :"Oh and ..." See count. 1 ...

of .197/.263/.352. He elected free agency following the season on November 6.

Boston Red Sox

On January 8, 2018, Hernández signed a minor league contract with the

Boston Red Sox The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Founded in as one of the Ameri ...

organization. On March 23, 2018, he was suspended 50 games without pay, following a second positive test for a drug of abuse, in violation of the Minor League Drug Prevention and Treatment Program. He was activated from the restricted list at the end of May, and was assigned to the Triple-A

Pawtucket Red Sox The Pawtucket Red Sox, known colloquially as the PawSox, were a professional minor league baseball club based in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. From 1973 to 2020, the team was a member of the International League and served as the Triple-A affiliate ...

where he batted .205 with one home run and 14 RBIs in 47 games. Hernández started the 2019 season with the Double-A

Portland Sea Dogs The Portland Sea Dogs are a Minor League Baseball team based in Portland, Maine, playing in the Eastern League (1938–present), Eastern League. Established in 1994, the Sea Dogs are the Double-A (baseball), Double-A affiliate of the Boston Red ...

, then was assigned to Triple-A Pawtucket in late April. He was selected to Boston's active MLB roster on May 17, when Sandy León was placed on the paternity list. Hernández was returned to Pawtucket on May 20, without making an appearance with Boston. For the 2019 MLB London Series at the end of June, Hernández traveled to London with the Red Sox as an extra player not on the active roster, in case of injury. He was designated for assignment by the Red Sox on July 2, in order to open a spot on the 40-man roster for Trevor Kelley. The team sent Hernández outright to Pawtucket the next day. Overall with Portland and Pawtucket in 2019, Hernández appeared in 54 minor league games, batting .192 with six home runs and 21 RBIs. He elected free agency on October 1.

St. Louis Cardinals

On January 7, 2020, Hernández signed a minor league deal with the

St. Louis Cardinals The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (baseball), National League (NL) National League Central, Centra ...

organization. He did not appear for the organization due to the cancellation of the minor league season because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. On May 27, Hernández was released by the Cardinals.

Kansas City Royals

On July 9, 2020, Hernandez signed a minor league contract with the

. On July 23, Hernandez was selected to the 40-man and active rosters. He was designated for assignment on August 2 after going 2-for-4 in 4 games with the Royals and outrighted on August 5. On October 15, Hernandez elected free agency.

Toros de Tijuana

On June 24, 2021, Hernández signed with the Toros de Tijuana of the

Mexican League The Mexican Baseball League (, or LMB, ) is a professional baseball league in Mexico. It is the oldest running professional sports league in the country. The league has 20 teams organized in two divisions, North and South. Teams play 114 games ...

. Hernández hit .244/.279/.366 with 1 home run and 4 RBI in 14 games with Tijuana before he was released on July 20.

Trois-Rivières Aigles

On January 11, 2023, Hernández signed with the Trois-Rivières Aigles of the

Frontier League The Frontier League (FL; French: ''Ligue Frontière'', LF) is a professional baseball league in North America composed of 18 teams – 15 in the United States and 3 in Canada. The FL is one of the eight independent baseball leagues in North Ame ...

. In 22 games for the Aigles, he batted .242/.329/.333 with 1 home run and 5 RBI. On August 4, Hernández was released by Trois-Rivières.

Staten Island FerryHawks

On March 20, 2024, Hernández signed with the Staten Island FerryHawks of the

Atlantic League of Professional Baseball The Atlantic League of Professional Baseball (ALPB) is a professional independent baseball league in the United States. It is an official MLB Partner League based in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern United States, and the headquarters are l ...

. However he was released prior to the start of the season.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez, Oscar 1993 births Living people Arizona Diamondbacks players Bowling Green Hot Rods players Hudson Valley Renegades players Jackson Generals (Southern League) players Kane County Cougars players Kansas City Royals players Leones del Caracas players Major League Baseball catchers Major League Baseball players from Venezuela 21st-century Venezuelan sportsmen Mobile BayBears players People from Punto Fijo Sportspeople from Falcón Pawtucket Red Sox players Portland Sea Dogs players Princeton Rays players Reno Aces players Salt River Rafters players Baseball players suspended for drug offenses Trois-Rivières Aigles players Venezuelan expatriate baseball players in the United States Venezuelan Summer League Rays players Visalia Rawhide players