KANSAS CITY — One impressive part of seemingly out-of-nowhere rise from unknown to high-leverage mainstay has been his ability to avoid extended funks.
The Cardinals’ first Rule 5 draft pick to appear on the club’s active opening day roster since in 2015, Fernandez hadn’t given up runs in three consecutive outings at any point this season.
At least, he hadn’t until Saturday night. He allowed three runs, not including one inherited runner that also scored, on four hits in a third of an inning against the Kansas City Royals. That was before the Cardinals had a rare Sunday off.
In his past three appearances against three different teams in the Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays and Royals, Fernandez allowed five runs on seven hits, including a home run, and one walk in 1⅔ innings. He didn’t register a strikeout in that period.
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“I think I know what I’m doing wrong,†Fernandez said after his latest outing. “So I’ll just work on that (Monday) and hopefully get back on track.â€
While Fernandez’s velocity and spin rate were at or slightly above his averages for this season, he’d already identified some differences in the shape of his pitches before he left the clubhouse postgame.
Specifically, the vertical movement on his slider didn’t match its normal profile. All three swings from opposing hitters on his slider made contact. He’s had a 40% whiff rate on that pitch this season, and opponents have batted .174 against his slider.
With the fastball, it was a matter of inconsistency that contributed to an average exit velocity of 98.2 mph on his heater. This season, Fernandez ranks in the 86th percentile of MLB pitchers as far as limiting hard contact, with a 33.1% hard-hit rate (which measures the percentage of hits given up that leave a bat at 95 mph or faster).
The late stage of the season and Fernandez’s workload now entering uncharted territory lends itself to questioning whether the grind of his first full-length MLB season has started to catch up with the 26-year-old right-hander.
“Honestly, this year I’ve felt better than I have the last two seasons in the minors,†Fernandez said. “Even being that I’m coming close to throwing my most innings ever this year, I’m still feeling more healthy than I did the last two years because last season I found some stuff that helped me stay healthy and feel good throughout the season.
“So I still feel pretty confident in being able to make it through the season healthy and strong.â€
Fernandez spent last season in the Boston Red Sox system, primarily at Double-A and Triple-A. The 54â…“ innings he threw and the 42 appearances he made during the 2023 season marked the most of any season of his professional career.
Fernandez went from never having thrown a pitch in the major leagues at the start of the season to becoming a key part of the quartet counted on to close games at the back end of the Cardinals bullpen.
All-Star closer Ryan Helsley, former All-Star reliever Andrew Kittredge and left-handed bulldog JoJo Romero all were counted on as key bullpen pieces entering spring training.
Going into spring training, it wasn’t certain Fernandez would make the team. Instead, he worked his way into the sort of late-inning role that the Cardinals envisioned for Keynan Middleton when they signed him as a free agent this winter.
A forearm injury sidelined Middleton in spring training, and he had season-ending surgery in June.
Through 118 games this season, Fernandez has made the fourth-most appearances of any pitcher on the Cardinals pitching staff (45). He has compiled a 3.38 ERA with a 1.28 WHIP (walks plus hits per innings pitched), 49 strikeouts and 15 walks in 50â…” innings pitched in 45 games. His 18 relief appearances of four outs or more are the most on the staff.
Fernandez’s 8.5 strikeouts per nine innings trail only Helsley (10.1) and Kittredge (8.7) among the Cardinals relief corps.
Entering Saturday night, Fernandez allowed just 18.2% of runners he inherited to score this season. That was the second-best rate of any National League relief pitcher.
“Just having that early on success this year in the big leagues has given me the confidence that I need to know that I do belong here and I can be very successful here,†Fernandez said. “Other than that, it’s just a mindset and having the right mechanics when I’m out there.â€
This season, with the help of the Cardinals pitching coaches and staff, Fernandez made mechanical tweaks to his delivery and what he’s described as how he “gets down the mound.†Those adjustment helped him regain some of the life on his pitches that made him effective early in his minor league career.
He had a 17-game stretch (from late May through July 7) in which he allowed just one earned run in 20 innings, recorded eight holds and held opponents to a .188 batting average and a .203 slugging percentage.
Asked what he learned about himself through the process of coming to a new organization, getting thrown into big league games and earning his way into a role as a late-inning reliever, Fernandez said, “Just that I can be dominant at this level when I’m right.â€
Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol hasn’t wavered on Fernandez’s place as one of the club’s vital bullpen options in high-leverage situations, despite his workload reaching career highs.
While the fact that Fernandez hadn’t pitched in the majors previously and hasn’t pitched this long a season previously is something taken “into consideration†by Marmol and the coaching staff, the fact that Fernandez feels physically strong and has been very effective this season also is part of the equation.
“As a reliever, you’re going have periods where you’re really good and periods when you’re not,†Marmol said. “You’ve got to figure out a way to survive through that time and make the necessary adjustments to continue having success, but Fernandez will be fine.â€
Roster move
The Cardinals announced a roster move on Sunday related to their bullpen depth. They activated right-hander Riley O’Brien from the 60-day injured list (forearm flexor strain) and designated right-hander Nick Robertson for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster. The Cardinals then optioned O’Brien to Triple-A instead of bringing him back up to the majors.
O’Brien appeared to be a candidate for late-inning and leverage situations coming out of spring training, but he appeared in just one game before he went on the IL.
With the Cardinals among a group of eight teams all within eight games of each other fighting for playoff berths, O’Brien carries a level of uncertainty and unpredictability that likely makes it difficult for the Cardinals to feel comfortable inserting into pivotal situations at this point in the season.