- Position
- SS
- Age
- 19
- Pieces here
- 4
Written about him
The Level Changed Luis Hernández And It Did Not Change Josuar Gonzalez
The Giants promoted shortstops Josuar Gonzalez and Luis Hernández from the Arizona Complex League to Low-A San Jose on July 24, and both debuted for San Jose on July 25. Through August 22, Gonzalez is hitting .379/.476/.609 in 21 games with 16 walks against 19 strikeouts. Through August 20, Hernández is hitting .231/.276/.319 in 20 games with 6 walks against 29 strikeouts. A .463 batting average on balls in play accounts for most of the difference in the batting averages and will not last. The plate-discipline gap will not regress the same way: Gonzalez walked and struck out at San Jose at almost exactly the rates he posted in the complex league, while Hernández's walk rate halved and his strikeout rate nearly doubled. Hernández is fourteen months younger, is in his first full-season league, and had the better strikeout rate of the two in the complex over a sample nearly twice as large. He is on San Jose's active roster and has not batted since August 20. MLB Pipeline moved the Giants from 19th to 5th in its refreshed farm system rankings on August 16, credited Gonzalez in part, and ranks Gonzalez 17th and Hernandez 27th among all prospects in baseball.
The Giants Bought Four Shortstops. Only One Of Them Can Play Shortstop.
The Giants have spent north of $13 million assembling four different answers to the same question. Sorting them by arrival date instead of by ranking reveals something uncomfortable about the next four years.