Earlier this week I had the opportunity to speak by phone with Braves prospect Ray Hernández. Hernández just completed his first professional season with the GCL Braves after being drafted in the 29th round out of Alabama State University in Montgomery as a senior. Hernández is an Orlando native and turned 22 years old on August 19.
Hernández hit .320/.392/.516 in his collegiate career at Alabama State, exploding his senior year with a .379/.452/.601 season and setting school records for batting average and home runs (11) and helping the team to a division title. He followed that up with a productive season with the GCL Braves, hitting .283/.353/.486 while learning a new position. We discussed that transition and more.
First off, congratulations on your first pro season and also happy belated birthday.
Thank you.
So you just completed your first pro season as a professional. How do you feel?
To be honest I’ve gotten this question a lot from friends and family, but it hasn’t really sunk in that I play professional baseball. It’s kind of surreal because baseball players spend so much time in high school and college thinking about the draft, and hoping and waiting for the draft, and then the draft comes. It’s just funny the way you work hard and basically you’re literally starting all over again. But now it’s your job and it’s been a dream of yours forever. It feels great and I’m blessed and feel extremely grateful to have played at least one season and if anything were to happen at least I have one season under by belt.
Now you grew up and went to school in Orlando, right?
Yes sir.
So you started your pro career in Kissimmee. Was that a blessing or do you feel like there were distractions?
It’s funny how it works because I grew up here and went to high school in Orlando and when I looked at colleges I went to Alabama, to Montgomery, because I kind of wanted to get away from home. So getting drafted by the Braves…
Actually I could have gotten drafted my junior year but I got hurt and I didn’t really have a great year. I didn’t speak to the Braves at all, I spoke to the Astros a lot my junior year. So it’s almost like a blessing in disguise that I got hurt because I got to get picked by the team with the closest rookie league team to me, the Braves.
It wasn’t really a distraction because I was staying at the hotel anyway, I didn’t stay at home when I was in Orlando. I’d stay at the hotel with the guys, and that the Braves were paying for. So it was one of those things that was a blessing really, I couldn’t have asked to get drafted by a better organization. Or a closer organization at that.
What made you decide to go to Alabama State?
Well I was originally committed to UCF here in Orlando, but things happened and they didn’t want to give me the scholarship that we initially agreed on. I still wanted to go to college and I ended up committing to a junior college, but I didn’t really want to play junior college baseball. I felt that I was good enough to play Division I even though I didn’t have a lot of name or come from a big-time high school or anything like that. So Mervyl Melendez [Alabama State’s head coach in 2015] just told me pretty much straight up “Listen, we’ll give you a full ride, you’ll play in your first year” and I already knew some guys that had already went there which kind of helped out.
So all those things combined; knowing people who were there, the scholarship, Division I, they had just finished beating Auburn and Miami in the year before I got there, and they play on TV. They had all the things I wanted in a Division I school.
This was the fifth consecutive year that an Alabama State player has been selected in the MLB draft. They are clearly doing something right in Montgomery, what do you think they did there that helped you take your game to the next level?
One of the biggest things is while we don’t play in a crazy-good conference, this isn’t the SEC or the ACC or anything like that, but what we do have are coaches that are knowledgeable of the game of baseball. A lot of times guys go to big schools in big conferences and the coach has a bigger personality than anything the players do, and he’s not really teaching the players how to play the game. He’s teaching them how he wants them to play the game. So a lot of times ego has a lot to do with their college program.
Of course those coaches win a lot of games, and they can’t help but to coach that way. But at Alabama State they never at any point wanted to change me, how I came from high school to Alabama State. The way I hit in high school is the way I hit now as a professional. They didn’t make me change anything, just some tips here and there, they didn’t say “Oh, we have to make you totally change”. If that was the case why would they recruit me in the first place?
So we get to play against good competition, we play single every mid-week against big-time schools. Because we’re in the South we play all these SEC, ACC schools, and that plays a big part of it. A lot of times the scouts are a little scared to draft guys out of Alabama State just because it’s not a big-time conference so you don’t face crazy velocity, but getting used to velocity is one of the very minor things you have to do when you switch from level to level.
One good thing they did there was that they’d just let you be yourself. A lot of times they would take you from the beginning… where other schools would shy away from the draft or not want to talk about the draft, they understood that the draft was the thing that players want and even though they may lose one of their best players, ultimately they want what’s best for their players. The coaches were never “Well, maybe you could stay one more year, help us out, then you could get drafted.” At no point were they like that. They said from the beginning “If you want to play professional baseball, you’ll need to do this, this, and this” and that was something we’d work on.
You ended up leaving Alabama State as the school leader in home runs and doubles and also set single-season records this year in batting average and home runs. I saw some footage on YouTube of you hitting a homer, and when you got back to the dugout, the team did something called the Hornet Swarm…
Yeah {laughs}. Our conference has a lot of historical black universities. The way baseball is played in these conferences is a lot different than the SEC or ACC. There’s a lot more noise, there’s a lot more talking smack, it’s a huge part of it. The fans get really into it. They’re listening to music during games in the outfield. There’s a lot going on that you wouldn’t see in a traditional university.
So this was just our thing, every university has their thing. In my first year, after a home run, everyone would just say “Yes! Yes! Yes!” Well, umpires didn’t like that, they thought we were taunting. So we ended up changing it from “Yes” to “Sí”, which of course is yes in Spanish. So we would chant “Sí! Sí! Sí!” and the umpires wouldn’t say anything.
And we would just build off of that. We had a thing for every home run, and luckily the team was so great about me and they really enjoyed when I hit home runs. Other times I got hit a lot, hit by a pitch, and the fans would kind of let me have it especially when we would play away.
I think the home run you’re talking about was the one that I hit at regionals against South Alabama. That game was intense, it was the playoffs, and that one gave us the lead there. And it was great, we weren’t the biggest school but it’s something we did after every home run but that one was a little more special.
Did you play mostly third base or first base in college?
To be honest, I never played first base until I got to professional baseball. Never played first base, never took a foul ball at first base or anything like that until I got with the Braves. At Alabama State I played third base, shortstop, and right field. I played a lot of third base. My senior year I played a lot of shortstop, just because there was a kind of a need there. I’m not a shortstop at all, I’m pretty big to be a shortstop. It was a need-based thing because we had a lot of shortstops go down and I was just the next best fielder they had so they put me at shortstop. I have a really strong arm, that’s why I can play third base and right field.
It was kind of weird initially, we finished the draft, we got to the spring training facility, and the Braves just told me “how would you feel about playing first base?” And I told them I’d never played, but you guys want me to play first, I’ll do it. And they said they really wanted me to take some reps at first base.
So I did that initially, I took some reps at it. First base is a lot more difficult than I thought it was. I guess I made it look easy for someone who was new at it, and they just left me there. I’m still a third baseman, they really harp on that, and especially this offseason they want to really focus on playing third base, taking ground balls at third base. “Don’t forget that you’re a third baseman, you were just playing first base as kind of a need-based thing. But you’re a third baseman.”
What ended up happening in the exit interview was that they kind of explained it more that they know for sure that I could play any corner infield or corner outfield spot. That’s something that can only help me, playing multiple positions can only help me, especially in the long run.
How would you evaluate yourself in your first pro season?
Initially, it took me a little bit of time… not so much to get used to anything, like a different way of playing, but it’s a different kind of baseball. There’s less cheering like I was talking about, it’s more professional obviously. I had to get over the “I’m just happy to be here!” mentality, realize that now I was there to work. I wasn’t there just to have fun, I was there to work.
I could have done a lot better, especially offensively. Initially… the coaches would tell me all the time that I was leading the league in line-outs, which is both good and bad. It’s good in that they write in their reports that I’m making solid contact even when I’m getting outs. But it sucks because I hit something like .285 or .284, and if all of those line-outs that I had, I think there was 15 of them, if 5 of them had dropped I would have hit .300 plus. If all of them had dropped I would have hit .350 or .400.
So it’s good and bad, but I can’t really control that. At the beginning I kind of struggled because things weren’t really going my way, but toward the middle of the year I kind of made an adjustment that I would just give my best, and let’s just see how it goes. I started getting a lot more hits. I tried to stay away from trying to hit so many home runs. Initially when I started out I hit three home runs in a week, then I said OK, let’s not try to hit so much for power, let’s try to get base hits, let my average grow. And that’s what ended up happening. I kind of saved it for the middle and end of the year. But I definitely could have hit a little better at the beginning, but it was my first year and I have so many years ahead of me and I have so much more baseball to play yet. Luckily I ended up good.
I could have done better, to answer your question, I could have hit a little better. I’m content, you know I’m pleased, .280 is great for the first year, especially for a first baseman who will be more power than average and strike out a little more. I felt like it was OK, decent for me.
It sounds like they’re valuing your process even if it wasn’t always falling in for you, I think that’s something you could take from it.
Yeah.
What does your offseason routine look like?
This offseason I wanted to play in a winter league and my agent, J.R. Rickert, he’s great, he was going to get me maybe playing in a few leagues, but toward the end of the year I kind of tweaked my patella tendon in my left knee so I was dealing with that. So the Braves told me I needed to rest. So I’m going to rest, I’ll give that the rest of this week. I’ll be working out here in Orlando since I’m from here. I’ll be working at an academy called Action Force and I’ll be coaching a travel ball team on the weekends. I’ll be giving lessons and working at the academy in the afternoon and nighttime when the kids get out of school.
In the mornings I’ll be with our first base coach from the GCL, Wiggy Navarez. He actually played for the Braves, I think maybe he got released last year or the year before that, and they made him into a coach because he was such a great guy. He knows his stuff. I’ll be with him the whole entire offseason, he’ll be mentoring me. I’ll be with him lifting weights, trying to lose a little bit of weight. I weigh around 235 now, I’m a pretty strong guy but I could do 230, 225 and just be less fat and more muscle. My body’s good now but anyone can improve, be a little more fit.
I’ll be working on my swing, working on my fielding. It’s been about three months since I was taking serious ground balls at third base so I’ll be doing that with him, which I’m happy about. He kind of took me under his wing. A lot of times you don’t see that, a lot of times coaches just go do their thing for the offseason, but he actually came to me and said “I want you to work with me. I see potential in you, I see a big future for you with the Braves. What do you think about that?”, and I said let’s do it.
If anyone knows about moving around different positions, it’s Wiggy. He caught, he played third, he played first and he played well everywhere.
Right.
You mentioned you were coaching a travel ball team. Do you do anything else for extra spending money? I heard last week that Patrick Weigel does Uber at nights.
{laughs} Nah… I’ve ridden Uber and I’ve thought about it but it’s not really my thing. I drive a truck so I don’t really have a fuel-efficient car to be doing that kind of stuff.
I’m going to be doing less of trying to make money this offseason and more of making myself better. Every professional baseball player has to make that decision for himself in the offseason. Are they going to want to heal, not do anything and just rest? Because everyone has something going on, you won’t find any professional baseball player that doesn’t have some kind of nagging injury. It doesn’t make sense with the number of games we play. So they’re either going to heal, try to make a little more money, or try to just grind, get better.
I’m going to try to do a little bit of each. I’ll probably start next Monday at the academy, trying to make a little extra money. At the same time lifting, hitting, fielding, running, just trying to get in a little better shape because I’m 22 years old. I don’t think I’ll be going to Danville next year. Rick Albert, our hitting coach, told me I’d probably be going to Rome, a full-season club. I have to be ready. You have to be ready before spring training not wait until spring training to be ready. Everybody is going to be ready.
So I’m going to do that. Get ready for spring training, show out in spring training, just keep what I’m doing, I’ve been doing pretty well so continue what I’ve been doing. If that’s at first base, third base, whatever I need to be ready to start in Rome next year.
Can you give a little scouting report on any of your teammates? Who should Braves fans be keeping an eye on that was on your team this year?
A lot of the better players were the draft guys. They didn’t have to worry about switching to another position like I did, so they were the first to get promoted. The Braves were kind of flirting with the idea of moving me up, but they didn’t because they wanted me to get a full season at first base.
But you know about CJ [Alexander]. He’s amazing. He just came in, starts hitting like crazy. He’s hit at every level he’s been at. Skipped Rome! That’s someone the Braves fans will know. If they don’t know about him now, they’ll hear about him. CJ’s great.
Trey Harris, he’s one of the best guys I’ve met so far too, he’s great. Went to Missouri, fiery guy. We have the same type of personality, we want to get after it. Don’t really care who’s pitching. First-rounder, thirtieth-rounder, rehab guy, we don’t care, let’s go, let’s go, let’s hit him. So Trey’s great.
My roommate, I don’t see a lot of stuff about him on Twitter, but Alex Camacho. Played in the GCL this year, but was called up to Kissemmee, the Florida Fire Frogs, finishing the year there. But he’s great, big guy, six-eight or something like that. Huge. Skinny guy too, so he’s got room to lose a little weight to be fit, but also build weight if he goes crazy in the gym. He’s a guy who can throw 100 miles per hour. Right now he’s not throwing it, but with that frame he has he could definitely throw 100. The thing about him that makes him special is his height is obviously a huge plus but he’s just not one of those guys that throws hard and has a good slider. He has a good splitter. He has a better splitter than a curveball or a slider, so a lot of times he’ll pitch to righties, or lefties, they’ll be expecting him to have the slider as his best pitch and throw that hard slider, but in his case it’ll be the splitter. He’s the kind of guy most hitters won’t know about. Most guys facing him will expect the hard slider, then he throws the splitter in there and gets a lot of outs. That’s what he’s been doing in high-A right now.
Thanks for the scouting report, it’s hard to get video on guys in the GCL and Florida State League. Just a couple fun questions. Are you a Fortnite guy?
I’m not! I’ve played Fortnite… if you ask somebody and they say they haven’t played Fortnite, they’re lying to you. Everyone’s played Fortnite. It’s a free game. I played it a little bit in college, not as much here. I’m just not good at it. If I’m being honest, if I was better at it I’d play it more but I’m terrible at the game. I’m not a shooting game guy, I’m more of a sports game guy, more FIFA, more MLB the Show. Games like that, not so much shooting games.
What’s your walk-up music?
Oooo… well, I listen to any kind of music. I speak English and Spanish fluently, so I can listen to any kind of music. I listen to rap, Spanish music, country music, you know I went to school in Alabama for four years. Heavy metal. It depends on how I’m feeling. It really depends on how I’m feeling when they ask me what song that I want. I’ll probably have a heavy metal song, not crazy-loud because the fans wouldn’t enjoy that, but a song that would be a little different than the usual rap or Spanish music that you hear at a game.
And this reminded me of something. This year I used – I don’t know how familiar you are with WWE, but I used Seth Rollins theme song, it’s called “Burn It Down”. I used that this year and when I get to Rome I’ll probably use that same song, but… it all depends, I might use a song that’s hot at that time, when I get there.
Is there anything else you want Braves fans to know?
I know I didn’t get picked in the early rounds, but I have supreme confidence in myself and I know I’m going to make it to the major leagues. It’s just a matter of time. I’m a big-time hitter and when you interview other people who have played with me they’ll tell you. I’m really good hitter. I don’t have a big name because I didn’t go to a big-time high school, I didn’t play big-time travel ball when I was in high school, I didn’t go to a huge college. But everywhere I’ve went, I’ve won people over, I’ve done my job, and I ultimately get promoted. That’s what’s going to happen here. I’m going to go to Rome, I’m going to do my best, get promoted, do my best, just like that and I’ll make it to the Show.
I’ve always had to fight. I’ve never had a big name or pedigree or anything like that. So one thing I want the Braves fans to know is that I’m a fighter, and no matter how long it takes me to get there, I’m going to make it.
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