Pittsburgh Pirates: Projecting the Team’s 2023 Line Up

BRADENTON, FL- FEBRUARY 22: Oneil Cruz #61 of the Pittsburgh Pirates throws during a game against the Minnesota Twins on February 21, 2020 at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Florida. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)
BRADENTON, FL- FEBRUARY 22: Oneil Cruz #61 of the Pittsburgh Pirates throws during a game against the Minnesota Twins on February 21, 2020 at LECOM Park in Bradenton, Florida. (Photo by Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)
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Pittsburgh Pirates
(Photo by Joe Sargent/Getty Images)

Catcher: Jommer Hernandez

Opening Day Age: 22

Jommer Hernandez is currently an un-ranked prospect, but he could potentially be a long term building block for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Last year, Hernandez had an outstanding season at the Dominican Summer League. Through 166 plate appearances, Hernandez hit .317/.406/.423 with a 134 wRC+. While he did not hit any home runs, but he did have five doubles and triples.

Hernandez lacks power, as he only had a .106 isolated slugging percentage. However, he was outstanding when it came to plate discipline. Hernandez only struck out 15.1% of the time while posting a 11.4% walk rate.

While his defensive profile has yet to be fully explored, he did catch 50% of the runners that tried to take an extra base on him which is pretty noteworthy. The most important part of a catcher’s game is their defense and if Hernandez can be a great defensive catcher, anything with the bat is just icing on the cake.

While 22 is young, and he has not even made it to High-A yet, Hernandez is one of the more under the radar prospects in the entire farm system for the Pittsburgh Pirates, and he is a prospect name that fans should keep in mind.