Article: Cubs Rule 5 Success Stories: Guillermo "Willie" Hernandez

[Seth Stohs]

On Wednesday at the annual Baseball Winter Meetings in Nashville, the Rule 5 draft will take place. Will the Cubs make a pick, or maybe lose a player? We shall see. However, over the next few days, let’s take a look at some of the Cubs' best Rule 5 picks. 

Image courtesy of © Darryl Norenberg-USA TODAY Sports

Background
Guillermo "Willie" Hernandez was born and grew up in Puerto Rico. The southpaw signed with the Philadelphia Phillies in September of 1973. A look at his minor-league career reminds us that the game has changed. 

He spent his first full professional season (1974) as a starting pitcher for Class A Spartanburg. As a 19-year-old, he made 26 starts and completed 13 of those games. He tossed 190 innings and went 11-11 with a 2.75 ERA. In 1975, he split time between Double A and Triple A. He made 24 starts and completed 11 games. He threw 171 innings and went 14-6 with a 3.11 ERA. In 25 games and 23 starts in 1976, he went 8-9 with a 4.53 ERA. 

The Cubs saw enough in him to select him in the Rule 5 draft and keep him around for a while. 

What did the Cubs See?
It is difficult to know what the Cubs scouts in the mid-70s saw with Willie Hernandez. It certainly isn’t the things that we look for today. Consider this: in his three minor-league seasons, he pitched a total of 496 innings, mostly as a starter. However, he had just 359 strikeouts (6.5 K/9). More to the point, in 215 Triple A innings, he had just 134 strikeouts. That’s just 5.6 K/9.

In 1976, four starters combined to make 131 starts. Steve Stone made 15 more starts. Bruce Sutter was a 23-year-old closer, and while Rick Reuschel led the starting staff, his brother Paul Reuschel was the second option out of the bullpen. The Cubs went 75-87 that season.  

While Hernandez had mostly been a starting pitcher in the Phillies system, the Cubs must have seen a durable left-hander who could eat a lot of innings out of the bullpen. 

Cubs Tenure
The 1977 Cubs went 81-81. Rick Reuschel led the starting staff with 20 wins and a 2.79 ERA. Reuschel, Ray Burris, Bill Bonham, and Mike Krukow combined to make 143 starts. 

Bruce Sutter was fantastic in the “closer” role. He went 7-3 with 31 saves and a 1.74 ERA. He threw 107 1/3 innings. Paul Reuschel again was an innings-eater in the bullpen. He worked 107 innings over 69 appearances. 

The 22-year-old Hernandez fit right into the back end of the Cubs bullpen. In fact, he led the Cubs relievers with 110 innings pitched in 67 outings. He went 8-7 with a 3.03 ERA and four saves. He continued to be a key component in the Cubs bullpen, sometimes eating innings, and sometimes filling a role more similar to today’s closer. The Cubs were bad in 1980 and 1981. In 1982, he worked 75 innings in 75 outings. In late May of 1983, Hernandez was traded to the Phillies in exchange for Bill Johnson and Dick Ruthven. 

In parts of seven seasons with the Cubs, Hernandez worked 465 1/3 innings over 323 outings. He went 26-28 with 20 saves and a 3.81 ERA. He had a strikeout rate of 6.4 K/9 and walked 3.6 per nine innings. 

Post-Cubs Career
After playing for the “Lovable Losers,” Hernandez found himself doing a lot of winning. He worked in 63 games for the 1983 Phillies team, and he pitched four innings over three appearances in the World Series that year. 

Days before the start of the 1984 season, the Phillies traded Hernandez and Dave Bergman to the Detroit Tigers in exchange for Glenn Wilson and John Wockenfuss. Hernandez put up a remarkable 1984 season for the Tigers. He led the league with 80 games pitched and with 68 Games Finished. In an astonishing 140 1/3 innings for Sparky Anderson’s Tigers, he went 9-3 with 32 Saves. He had just a 1.92 ERA and a 0.94 WHIP. He was named the American League Cy Young Award-winning, the league’s MVP, and he helped the Tigers to the World Series championship that season. It was his first of three All-Star appearances. 

In 1985, he worked 106 1/3 innings and went 8-10 with 31 saves. He had a 2.70 ERA and a minuscule 0.90 WHIP. He remained with the Tigers through the 1989 season, gradually pitching less and less… likely in an attempt to keep his arm intact. 

And hey, in March of 1988, Hernandez poured ice water over Mitch Albom (then a columnist for the Detroit Free Press) as he was interviewing a teammate. 

Hernandez passed away two weeks ago at his home in Florida at the age of 69.

We will be back tomorrow with another one of the Cubs' best Rule 5 picks. 

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