Heriberto Hernández homers as Marlins fall to Nats

Hernández took Brad Lord deep for a two-run homer in the seventh inning to tie the game, staying hot for his fourth home run in seven games. The 26-year-old outfielder is up to 22 homers and 58 RBI while collecting nine steals and hitting .235/.313/.472 across 386 plate appearances.

Hernández drove in Agustín Ramírez with his first-inning double. He was later robbed of another extra-base hit as Nationals outfielder Jacob Young climbed the wall to take it away. Hernández has shown some power upside this season while hitting lefties more reliably than righties. He’s been batting inside the top three of the order whenever Miami faces a southpaw. The Marlins could see up to four left-handers this week with matchups against the Red Sox and Nationals.

Hernández might have lost some additional playing time against righties if not for Kyle Stowers’ injury, but he took advantage tonight. He’s 4-for-10 with two homers and three walks in his last three games, pushing his OPS back up to .753.

There was some expectation that this would happen after Liam Hicks was traded to Tampa Bay, but it’s still a bit of a surprise. Hicks was being used primarily as a designated hitter with Joe Mack entrenched as the catcher, so Ramírez will either be a short-side platoon at catcher or the designated hitter, or a little bit of both. The consequence of that would be that one of Griffin Conine, Heriberto Hernandez, or Owen Caissie will no longer be penciled in as the full-time designated hitter in the wake of Hicks’ trade.

Hernández hit two homers in the Marlins’ three-game sweep of the Phillies, connecting for long balls off Zack Wheeler and Jesús Luzardo. The hot-hitting outfielder is of the high-SLG, low-OBP variety. He’s made 17 straight starts for Miami. His 16 home runs this season lead the team. The Athletic reported Wednesday that the front office is willing to listen to offers for several hitters, including Hernández. He’s a name to watch ahead of Monday’s trade deadline.

Hernández’ breakout season continues. He hit his 15th home run of the year, a solo shot off Zack Wheeler in the first inning. Then, in the ninth inning, he hit a game-tying two-run single of Jhoan Duran. Hernández has two home runs in his last four games. He’s hitting .245 with an .800 OPS and 41 RBI.

This man is on fire. Hernández launched his home run an estimated 423 feet with a 111 mph exit velocity and now has 14 home runs on the season. That’s tied for the team-lead and he only has a hair more than 250 plate appearances. Over his last 30 games, he has a .965 OPS and is top-five in the entire league in both barrel rate and hard-hit rate since June 1st. This strong play has forced the Marlins to push him up to the upper-third of their lineup in six straight games and he’s rewarded them with more strong play.

As the Marlins’ season falls apart, Hernández is making a name for himself. He scorched a 107 mph double in this one that nearly left the yard and chipped in another hard-hit single, but couldn’t save the Marlins from their ninth straight loss. He stole his seventh bag of the season too and is playing on a nearly 30 home run, 15 stolen pace in what’s mostly been a part-time role this season. At first he was only playing against left-handed pitchers, then began forcing his way into the lineup versus righties, and lately he’s started 11 consecutive games following an injury to Owen Caissie. In the last five, Hernández has hit in the top third of their order too.He is growing past being just a deep-league target.

Hernández got the Marlins’ first hit in the ballgame with his 380-foot (99.6-mph EV) solo shot off of Parker Messick in the sixth inning. The 26-year-old outfielder also drew a walk in the contest. He has provided solid power production for the Marlins this season, slashing .236/.318/.482 with 13 homers and 36 RBI in 220 plate appearances.

Hernández hit two home runs on Sunday and then was not in the lineup on Tuesday as the Marlins struggle to deal with their outfield surplus. Hernández has started mainly against lefties, with Griffin Conine and/or Owen Caissie heading to the bench, which makes sense because Hernández has been far better against lefties, with an .870 OPS compared to a .739 mark against righties. On Wednesday, it will be Conine on the bench despite the Marlins facing right-haner George Kirby.