Hernández’s prep for ’23? A sci-fi pitching machine
PEORIA, Ariz. — Teoscar Hernández wouldn’t commerce his World Baseball Classic expertise for something, apart from perhaps just a few greater than the 5 at-bats he took for Team Dominican Republic earlier than their elimination on Wednesday.
“It was incredible,” Hernández mentioned. “I mean, overall, it was good, and it was like it’s something that you have to go through so you can know what kind of experience it is. I had a lot of fun.”
Hernández, Julio Rodríguez and Diego Castillo had been away from the Mariners for 10 days whereas enjoying for his or her homeland in Pool D in Miami. Hernández performed in every of the D.R.’s 4 video games, however he solely made one begin, within the staff’s first contest towards Venezuela.
Hernández was used as a defensive substitute late in two of the opposite video games, and noticed one at-bat as a pinch-hitter, the known as strikeout that ended the loss to Puerto Rico and eradicated the Dominican Republic. Eloy Jiménez of the White Sox earned the opposite begins in proper subject in these contests.
Now, Hernández is enjoying a bit extra catch-up than anticipated. But he expects to be totally prepared for Opening Day.
“It was really close,” Hernández mentioned of his timing. “I was getting there, and then I left. … It’s hard to search in the big leagues, so I’m going to search now and get ready for the season.”
To make up for misplaced time, Hernández has been commonly utilizing the Trajekt machine that mimics the deliveries and pitch behaviors of MLB pitchers, a luxurious he didn’t have in Toronto. Only a handful of massive league golf equipment are leasing them, and the Mariners simply had theirs put in final yr. Trajekt’s {hardware} makes use of holographic photographs that may mirror any pitcher towards a backdrop that shifts its form to tailor as such. It’s supplemented with software program that homes reams of pitch-tracking information, creating the final word BP machine.
“I think for me, it’s even harder hitting against that machine than facing the real guy in real life,” Hernández mentioned. “So I think it would be good for the position players. I think it will help.”
What makes it much more difficult?
“It’s just, you’re looking at the screen,” Hernández mentioned. “You don’t see the ball in his hand or anything. You just see the ball coming through a hole. So that’s what makes it a little hard.”
Hernández performed in consecutive Cactus League video games on Saturday and Sunday with three at-bats in every. Ideally, he’d wish to work himself again solely in MLB video games relatively than seeing motion in Minors camp, the place he might get doubtlessly as much as 10 at-bats on any given day with a number of video games happening.
“I’m not going to rush it,” Hernández mentioned. “I’m not going to push anything, because I don’t want to get hurt. I just want to take these 10 days to get into a process and to a routine, so I can get my at-bats back. My body feels good. Right now, I just need my timing in the game to be ready for the season.”
Hernández is slated to be the common proper fielder, however Mariners supervisor Scott Servais famous that the two-time Silver Slugger Award winner will even be among the many common rotation at DH. And a number of the energy he’s proven this spring underscores why.
