By Haden Raymer
When checking the stats leaderboards, you do not often expect to see a batting average north of .400. If you check right now though, Jose Hernandez of the Woodstock River Bandits is doing just that. Through his first 22 games, Hernandez is hitting .403/.463/.514. He has 29 hits already, which is third in the league. Six of those were for extra bases, with one being a home run. So how is he doing this?
Well, the obvious answer would begin with a low strikeout rate. Hernandez does not quite fit this mold though, as he has struck out in 26.8% of his plate appearances to date. While that is not bad, it is not league-leading or an outlier that would help explain his high batting average. Hernandez does not have insane power either. If he did, those free hits on home runs could boost his average. The only other possible answer could lie in his batting average on balls in play (BABIP). Hernandez’s BABIP is an astronomical .560. While that number seems a bit unsustainable, there is no reason Hernandez could not still enjoy success. More walks and a few more home runs and Hernandez would remain one of the best hitters in the league.
Neither of those is particularly out of the realm of possibility either. Hernandez did both of those things in his freshman year at Miami Dade College. While he did not hit .403, his .252/.369/.483 slash line is very respectable. He was stealing more bases then too, so it seems Hernandez is still getting adjusted to the VBL, but he may soon begin to put up a different, but more sustainable kind of success.