For much of April, the Philly faithful were less than thrilled with Cesar Hernandez’s performance in the field or at the plate.
In the field, he has already committed 4 errors. That puts him on pace for about 19 errors this season. Cesar has never had more than 12 errors in a single season (2016 and 2018).
On the offensive side of the ball is another story. Hernandez has been hitting extremely well since breaking a hitless streak from April 5-9 that spanned 15 at-bats. Since then, Cesar has been surprisingly hot at the dish, hitting .344 with a .888 OPS. That’s 25 games that Cesar has been flying under the radar.
On Wednesday against the Cardinals, Cesar Hernandez made his presence known. He went 3-5, just a triple shy of the cycle with 3 RBI and a run scored. Combined with the 8-inning shutout effort by Jerad Eickhoff, Cesar willed the Phillies to a series win over the always threatening St. Louis Cardinals.
The 3 hits pushed Cesar’s batting line to .305/.365/.458 on the year.
How is Cesar finding this success? Well, he’s cutting down on strikeouts, that’s for one. Cesar has struck out 19 times through 35 games, putting him at a pace for 88 Ks. While that might still sound high, it would be his lowest strikeout total since 2015 when he only played 127 games with 86 Ks.
It would be his first full season with less than 100 strikeouts. In 2018, Cesar had a staggering 155 punch outs. At age 29, it is looking like Cesar Hernandez is reaching his peak potential.
Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-USA TODAY Sports
