Philadelphia Phillies: The Case for David Hernandez at Closer

After trading Ken Giles to the Houston Astros, the Philadelphia Phillies are in need of a closer.

Enter David Hernandez, a player who ignited his career with a move to the national league in 2011. Hernandez began as a starter with the Baltimore Orioles in 2009 but proved to be ineffective in that role posting an ERA of 5.42 over 101 innings pitched.

Hernandez moved to the bullpen in 2010 and his ERA dropped to a 4.31. While not good it is a marked improvement over his 2009 season. In the offseason, Hernandez was acquired by the Arizona Diamondbacks and his career took off.

Hernandez was primarily a setup man to Brandon Zeigler and he posted an ERA of 3.38 in his first season with the Diamondbacks. In 2012, Hernandez had the best bullpen season of his career posting an ERA of 2.50 with a WHIP of 1.02. For that season, Hernandez was almost unhittable.

Hernandez missed the 2014 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery and returned last season to post a 4.28 ERA while pitching sporadically (Hernandez only appeared in 40 games over 33.2 innings that season).

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Enter Philadelphia Phillies with Andy MacPhail’s Moneyball approach from scene left. Hernandez was signed during winter meetings with the expectation to compete for a spot in the bullpen now that he is healthy. Hernandez is also a familiar face to McPhail and director of player development Joe Jordan, who drafted him while in Baltimore.

Hernandez has had an effective spring, pitching to an ERA of 2.25 and more importantly, proving that he is healthy.

After the Philadelphia Phillies game against the Yankees, manager Pete Mackanin was quoted saying, 

"“[Dalier] Hinojosa and Hernandez are candidates,” Mackanin said. “After that, we might have to use a committee situation. It is what it is. We have to try to find somebody who can do it.” Mackanin continued saying, “Unless I’m 100 percent sure about somebody that I want to call a closer, I’m not going to call anybody a closer. When you think about it, a closer is somebody that you go to, that you count on for the ninth inning. I don’t know if … I hope we have one. But I’m not going to name one right now just to call a guy closer. That doesn’t really mean anything.”"

What can be taken from these quotes is that the closer job is wide open but it should be expected to be Hernandez. Dalier Hinojosa was great for the Philadelphia Phillies in 2015 and deserves a back-end role in the pen.

But there is one statistic where Hernandez shines through, experience. Not only did David Hernandez have the luxury of learning from one of the best closers in Major League Baseball, Brad Zigler but he also has years of setup experience so Hernandez would be used to the high-pressure situations that come with being a closer protecting a lead.

There’s no training that can compare to being out on the mound going through the heart of the order to protect a 1-0 lead in a big game and Hinojosa lacks that experience. While Hinojosa pitched to an ERA of .78 last season for the Philadelphia Phillies, that  kind of production is unsustainable.

Next: Philadelphia Phillies Opening Day History

The Philadelphia Phillies may have choices at closer, but the right choice is David Hernandez. Closer by committee situations don’t work because bullpen pitchers love to know their roles. From the 6th-9th innings, they can mentally prepare for the situations that they expect to pitch in. In a game of inches like baseball, even a slight advantage like that makes all the difference.