Teoscar’s 1st Mariners HR a mammoth blast

PEORIA, Ariz. — With one candy swing, Teoscar Hernández confirmed precisely why the Mariners aggressively traded for him on the offseason’s outset and what he brings to a lineup that wanted extra energy.

Hernández crushed an enormous homer in his first at-bat throughout Tuesday’s Cactus League win over the Guardians, hitting it 112 mph and clearing the batter’s eye in heart area. TrackMan didn’t have the gap, however followers could possibly be seen racing after the ball close to the venue’s periphery, which means that Hernández — who had missed the earlier two video games with a sore again — practically left the yard altogether.

Mariners supervisor Scott Servais is coming into his eighth spring right here, and he mentioned that it was among the many most large he’s seen.

“To center field, there’s no question,” Servais mentioned. “I don’t think I’ve seen one hit that far.”

It was a stunning show of pure energy that could possibly be an enormous power and an embodiment of among the changes Hernández has labored on in recent times — and people he honed this offseason with new teammate Julio Rodríguez and his offseason coach, Yo Murphy, at House of Athlete in Tampa, Fla.

“For me, it was more about how to use my body, how to control more of my body and use it all together,” Hernández mentioned of the coaching. “Not thinking about my strength, thinking about [having] more flexibility, how to get my body really loose and all that stuff. Because for me, my body is really tight.”

He won’t have the star energy of Aaron Judge or former teammate Vladimir Guerrero Jr., however Hernández hits the ball as laborious as them. Last yr, he slashed .267/.316/.491 (.807 OPS) with 25 homers.

“I’m just trying to minimize the movement in my swing,” Hernández mentioned. “The way I get to the ball, I’m just trying to use my body. I know I’m strong. I just have to hit the ball. I don’t need to think about hitting it hard. That way, I can stay more engaged with the pitches and control the strike zone more.”

Leveraging physique actions was an enormous think about Rodríguez’s coaching with Murphy and the way he reworked himself from a pudgy prospect to elite five-tool participant.

But it was merely reaching out that introduced the 2 gamers collectively after the Mariners acquired Hernández from Toronto in November in alternate for reliever Erik Swanson and left-handed pitching prospect Adam Macko. Rodríguez already knew he was doubtless going to be teammates with Hernández taking part in for the Dominican Republic on the upcoming World Baseball Classic, however when he realized that Hernández was coaching solo over the winter, he invited him to House of Athlete.

“He’s a great teammate,” Rodríguez mentioned. “Super fun to be around, and he works hard. … You saw what he did in the postseason against us, and guys like that, we need guys like that on this team.”

“I had multiple [Toronto teammates who] said they wanted to play Seattle,” Hernández recalled of final postseason. “I was the one who said, ‘No.’ I saw the really good team that they have. I know they have a really good pitching staff, starters and relievers, and I didn’t want to face that.”

The expertise and potential of his new atmosphere made leaving one other contending group extra palatable. But for a participant solely underneath contract by way of 2023, incomes $14 million in his closing yr of arbitration eligibility, his efforts off the sphere have been notable. Hernández and catcher Cal Raleigh had been the one gamers on the Spring Training media preview final month, and through that very same journey, they visited a brand new Mariners Training Center for a day teaching kids.

What made him really feel so at house so shortly?

“The people,” Hernández mentioned. “When you’re around people that know how to stay together and know how to handle each other, I think that’s when relationships get closer and closer. I feel like everybody here is doing that. … That’s one of the biggest things that I see here.”

Hernández might solely be right here for one season — particularly on condition that he’ll be arguably the very best energy hitter not named Shohei Ohtani in subsequent yr’s free-agent class — however he intends to profit from it.