The 2017 International Signing period begins tomorrow, but hardly anyone that signs in the next few months will play until next season. Last year it was a trio of Cuban players who were the top signings by the Cincinnati Reds. Two years ago it happened to be a paid of 16-year-olds, Dominican outfielder Cristian Olivo ($1M) and Venezuelan shortstop Miguel Hernandez ($600K). Both Olivo and Hernandez are playing in the Dominican Summer League this year at 18-years-old.
In 2016 Miguel Hernandez made his professional debut for the Dominican Summer League Rojos. It was a quality debut, but unspectacular. He hit .245/.341/.300 over 278 plate appearances. He had eight doubles, a triple and a home run in 64 games. That also came with 35 walks and 37 strikeouts – good rates for the league, particularly for his age. Where he did struggle was on the bases, stealing seven bases while being caught six times.
Miguel Hernandez returned to the Dominican Summer League in 2017, once again playing for the Rojos. Things are going quite a bit better this season for the now 18-year-old. Through 22 games played and 99 plate appearances he’s hitting .276/.347/.437. He’s already matched up his power output from the year before. He’s already hit one less double, one more triple and has the same number of home runs as he had last season in nearly three times as much playing time. Hernandez has also been far more successful on the base paths, already stealing more bases, eight, and only being caught one time.
Here’s a quick look at a comparison between his rates between the two seasons:
| IsoP | BB% | K% | SB% |
| .055 | 12.6% | 13.3% | 53.8% |
| .161 | 9.1% | 14.1% | 88.9% |
His power output has nearly tripled. The walk rate is down a little bit, and the strikeout rate is up a little bit. Neither decline, though, is to the point that there’s any concern.
When he was signed, Miguel Hernandez was listed at 5′ 11″ and 155 lbs. He was barely 16-years-old at that point (born in mid-April and signed on July 2nd). Today he’s listed at 6′ 0″ and he’s up to 170 lbs. He has put on some size since his signing, which isn’t surprising – most 16-year-olds add some size between then and age 18. The size increase seems to be helping out with the power output early on in 2017.
I was a little surprised that he returned to the Dominican Summer League. I was told this spring that he was likely to be stateside for the Arizona Summer League this year, but with how things are improving for him so far in the Dominican, it seems the Reds may have made the right decision to keep him there for the time being.