Blue Jays: Teoscar Hernandez honing craft with Toros

ST PETERSBURG, FL - SEPTEMBER 28: Teoscar Hernandez #37 of the Toronto Blue Jays hits a home run in the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays on September 28, 2018 at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
ST PETERSBURG, FL - SEPTEMBER 28: Teoscar Hernandez #37 of the Toronto Blue Jays hits a home run in the second inning against the Tampa Bay Rays on September 28, 2018 at Tropicana Field in St Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)

Toronto Blue Jays outfielder Teoscar Hernandez is getting some additional seasoning honing his craft in the Dominican Winter League.

Teoscar Hernandez is playing winter ball for the Toros del Este and faired pretty well in his first 13 games with the club. The 26-year old is hitting .273/.353/.432 with 12 hits, 15 runs batted in and a home run in 44 at-bats.

The young slugger struggled to make consistent contact in 2018 fanning 163 times last season. Thus far, Hernandez has whiffed only 12 times with the Toros while drawing six walks in the process.

Hernandez finished last season hitting .239/.302/.468 with 22 round trippers, however, hit a paltry .209 in the second half of the season striking out 77 times in 58 games. He will have to be much more consistent in 2019 if he has aspirations of being a full-time player at the major league level.

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Even more surprising is Hernandez has been patrolling centrefield for his Dominican League club and has yet to make an error. Hernandez made the outfield look like an adventure on many occasions last season making eight errors between right and left field with the Blue Jays.

He finished 2018 with a .965 fielding percentage with 211 putouts in 230 total chances while also contributing 11 outfield assists. With the likes of Kevin Pillar, Randal Grichuck and Billy McKinney all vying for playing time, Hernandez will have to step up his defensive prowess in the outfield.

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Hernandez has a familiar MLB face on his winter league squad in Hunter Pence who is attempting to rejuvenate his career after a disappointing 2018 campaign. Both players are hitting in the middle of the Toros order leading their offensive attack.

It is refreshing to know that Hernandez was not satisfied with his 2018 results and is intent on grinding during the offseason to take his game to the next level. Hernandez has 35-homer potential if he can become more of a complete hitter and cut down on the strikeouts.

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We will continue to monitor the slugger’s progress with the Toros as the offseason progresses.