ESPN College Sports

Originally Published: June 11, 2008

Hernandez tapped for Miami greatness by one of Miami's greatest

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By Heather Dinich
ESPN.com
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CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- As far as compliments go, this one soared well beyond the 400-foot mark in center field at Mark Light Stadium.

Before the season started, Miami pitching coach J.D. Arteaga quietly predicted freshman pitcher Chris Hernandez would be the best left-hander ever to come out of the storied program -- and that's coming from the best left-hander ever to come out of the storied program.

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AP Photo/Hans DerykChris Hernandez was second in the ACC this season with 112 strikeouts in an ACC-leading 106.1 innings of work.

(Not that they actually told Hernandez.)

Nor would it matter if they did.

"I don't try to blow myself up," Hernandez said, with a shy smile.

He hasn't had to.

Despite the staff's high hopes for Hernandez, none of them -- including Arteaga -- had any idea he'd be so good so fast. Hernandez enters this weekend's College World Series in Omaha, Neb., with an 11-0 record and is ranked second in the Atlantic Coast Conference with a 2.62 ERA. He will start the first game against No. 8 seed Georgia at 7 p.m. Saturday. So far, opponents have hit just .218 against the ACC's freshman of the year, the second-lowest batting average allowed by a pitcher in the ACC.

"His makeup and his character, it's not one of a normal 19-year old, that's for sure," Arteaga said. "He's so mature and goal-oriented and he has a great work ethic. He's one of those players you don't have to repeat yourself. You make a mistake one time and he never does it again. He has that God-given ability where he has a good arm and great movement and great command, but the makeup to along with that, you just know he has to get better, and he has gotten better from the moment he stepped on campus."

Hernandez has plowed through this season without the inconsistency that typically accompanies freshmen. Nobody in the program anticipates any rookie jitters from him this weekend.

"I'm going to go out there and think of it as the same thing I've been doing the whole time," said Hernandez, a 2008 Louisville Slugger All-American who was named the Collegiate Baseball Freshman Pitcher of the Year and the first freshman finalist for the Roger Clemens Award. "I know it's a big stage, but I'm going to try and shrink it down and make it to what I've been doing here. I don't try to make anything bigger or anything smaller than what it is."

After all, this sport is in his blood.

Hernandez's grandfather, Angel De La Vega, was a professional left-handed pitcher in Cuba, and taught him how to stay ahead of batters and throw strikes. He's still learning from Arteaga.

At the beginning of the season, Arteaga was concerned with Hernandez's command and whether he could keep his pitch count down low enough to get deep in the game. Not a problem: Hernandez has walked only 17 batters.

His best pitch is a cut fastball -- a tough pitch to hit because it has a lot of movement -- and he and Arteaga have honed his slider to have a much shorter break. His changeup is his fourth pitch and the one they've worked on the most. Toss in his curveball and Hernandez has a four-pitch arsenal that has caught an ACC-high 39 batters looking this season. Hernandez is second in the league with 112 strikeouts in a conference-leading 106.1 innings this season.

"We're in every game that he pitches," Arteaga said, "that's a great credit to him."

Hernandez made his first relief appearance on Sunday in the Hurricanes' 4-2 super regional win over Arizona, coming in with two on and two outs in the seventh inning and pitching for one inning. He was able to get Jon Gaston -- a home run threat -- to ground out to second.

And yet Morris said he's never seen an ounce of emotion from his stoic young pitcher, other than maybe a smile when it's over.

"I stay cool on the mound, I don't let anything affect me," said Hernandez, who was drafted out of high school by the Detroit Tigers in the 14th round and should be a three-year player at Miami. "If they get a hit off me, I let it go and go to the next guy. I approach everything pitch by pitch. I don't try to look ahead or look in the past."

Before the season started, Morris had each player write down his goals on a sheet of paper. He still has papers in his desk, but couldn't remember on Monday what Hernandez wrote down. He knew it wasn't this:

"I don't expect any freshman pitcher to be 11-0 and be our No. 1 pitcher going into the College World Series," Morris said. "There's no way you can expect a freshman to do that and put that kind of pressure on him … but he's very composed, very mature."

Hernandez certainly couldn't have predicted such an incredible start for himself, either.

"I didn't think I would be 11-0 right now, and coming in especially in a game like that coming in relief," he said of the super regional. "I've definitely been exceeding my expectations and it's been very good. It's been like a dream season, practically."

For Arteaga, it's nothing new. He helped Miami reach the CWS four straight seasons as a pitcher from 1994 to '97. He left as the program's all-time wins leader with 43 and all-time starts leader with 72. His No. 33 jersey was retired in 2003, but he never made it past the minors.

Asked if he sees any of himself in Hernandez, Arteaga laughed.

"I wish," he said. "I wouldn't be coaching right now.

"He's a competitor. That's how I was. I wasn't very talented but I competed. He's the same type of person with a lot better stuff and a lot more God-given ability than I ever had."

And he just might be the best lefty Miami ever had.

Heather Dinich covers college sports for ESPN.com. Send your questions and comments to Heather at espn.hd@hotmail.com.