Frank Hernández

Frank Hernández Ruiz

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 5' 11", Weight 185 lb.

• Born December 10, 2001 in Havana Cuba

BR Register page

Biographical Information

Frank Hernández has played in the minors and for the Spanish national team. He is the son of Edgar Hernández and twin brother of Omar Hernández.

The family left Cuba for Spain when he was about 12 years old. The two youngsters were originally soccer players, but that changed when they hit the highly competitive environment that is European youth soccer, particularly in the shade of the great Barcelona club, and they turned to their father's favorite sport, with which they were already familiar from growing up in baseball-mad Cuba. Frank pitched 3 2/3 shutout innings for Spain in the 2017 European Junior Championship. Debuting with CB Viladecans that summer, he was 0-1 with a save and a 9.11 ERA, going 3 for 21 with two walks. . The next year, he hit .321/.441/.393 and was 2-2 with two saves and a 4.91 ERA. He was excellent in the 2018 European Junior Championship: 13 for 16 with two walks, a hit-by-pitch, six runs and five RBI in five games while going 1-0 with a 0.90 ERA, beating Germany. He led the event in average (.246 ahead of Sean Scanlon), led in OBP (.098 ahead of Scanlon), was 4th in slugging, tied for second in hits and third in ERA.

Frank hit .425/.455/.525 in 10 games for Viladecans in 2019. He batted .387/.441/.452 with eight RBI in eight games in the 2019 U-18 Baseball World Cup, though half of his 12 hits and three-quarters of his RBI came in one stellar performance against South Africa. He was also 1-1, allowing no earned runs in 6 2/3 IP, losing to Japan and beating Nicaragua. He had 12 putouts, 4 assists and no errors as a OF/P. He was signed by Chicago Cubs scouts Hansel Izquierdo, Brent Phelan and [Jaime McFarland]]. The 2020 minor league season was wiped out by the COVID-19 pandemic. He spent the summer in the Italian Serie A2, batting .444/.490/.644.

In '21, Frank posted a .287/.377/.359 batting line for the DSL Cubs Blue. He split 2022 between the ACL Cubs (.305/.406/.356 in 24 G) and Myrtle Beach Pelicans (.089/.241/.089 in 16 G). He was 3 for 5 with a double, walk and six runs for Viladecans as well. In the 2022 World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, he was a backup outfielder. He debuted for Spain's senior national team as a pinch-hitter for former major leaguer Engel Beltre during a rout of the Czech national team. He drew a walk from Filip Čapka and later came home on a single by Leopoldo Correa, then stayed in the game in center field. He flew out against Lukáš Hlouch his other time up. He also was a defensive sub one game and pinch-ran in another but did not bat again.

Further Reading

• Michael Clair: "Brothers played soccer in Cuba, baseball in Spain. Now both have MLB dreams", mlb.com, May 16, 2024. [1]