Teoscar Hernandez, Toronto Blue Jays
The Blue Jays had a forgettable year from the standpoint of wins and losses. However, the arrivals of Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Cavan Biggio, and Bo Bichette made it exciting for the fans. Another young player who took a step forward in 2019 was Teoscar Hernandez.
Although his 102 wRC+ through 464 plate appearances didn’t surpass his 107 mark in 523 trips to the plate the year prior, his fWAR showed a significant increase in value (0.3 to 1.2). Hernandez’s strikeout rate went from a troubling 30.1% prior to the All-Star break to an even-more-troubling 36.0% after it, but he at least accompanied it with a wRC+ that more than doubled (63 to 142).
A quick look at his peripherals show why he hit 18 of his 26 homers in the second half — his quality-of-contact numbers absolutely skyrocketed. Hernandez’s soft-hit rate went from 19.2% to 12.6%, while his hard-hit rate jumped from 36.3% to 52.9%. That ranked third in baseball behind Aaron Judge and Miguel Sano.
Despite not seeing his contact rates in various situations change all that much, having such a large spike in the quality of contact will take care of most things.
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