César Hernández had one of his least productive and most productive seasons in the same year.
That reads like a misprint, and I’m just as confused by it as you might be. But that’s what happens when you have a player who spent the first 96 games of the season posting a career low batting average while boasting out-of-character power numbers. Hernández didn’t hit frequently while in Cleveland, but also topped his single-season career high in home runs by July 21.
Yet after being dealt to the White Sox at the trade deadline, Hernández’s power vanished. It was as if someone kicked a plug out of its socket. He gave Chicago just seven extra base hits in 217 plate appearances, enduring struggles that appear to be based on a sudden inability to read pitches he was tuning up in Cleveland.
Casey Drottar is a Freelance Sports Reporter for The Associated Press, the Chicago Tribune and Shaw Media. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook