Carlos Hernandez

Hernandez worked as a reliever in 2023, making a career-high 67 appearances while getting plenty of high-leverage looks. The 6-foot-4, 250-pound righty racked up 17 holds and four saves for the Royals, but the quality of his innings was lackluster despite adding velocity to his fastball that he threw 99.1 mph on average. He posted an ERA over 5.00 for the second consecutive year along with a 1.33 WHIP that was a bottom-50 mark among relief pitchers. The 26-year-old particularly struggled down the stretch, with a 12.91 ERA in September and more walks issued (nine) than strikeouts (four). Hernandez's inflated ratios make him hard to trust for fantasy purposes, but he could still be worth a late-round gamble considering his strikeout and walk rates are trending in the right direction. Read Past Outlooks