One of the most interesting questions surrounding the A's this spring is whether or not Darell Hernaiz is going to make the Opening Day roster. The 22-year-old had a great first season in the organization after coming over in the Cole Irvin deal with Baltimore, batting a combined .321 with a .386 OBP and nine homers between Double-A Midland and Triple-A Las Vegas.
When spring training began, it looked as though he'd be in competition with Nick Allen for the starting shortstop job, but last week A's GM David Forst told A's Cast, "I think Nick has sort of the upper hand in that battle right now. He deserves to be there."
Given that Forst is one of the main people making that roster decision, it kind of put a damper on Hernaiz getting a look in Oakland at the beginning of the season.
However, Aledmys Díaz is set to miss two to three weeks due to a groin strain. When asked if Díaz would play in games before the end of camp, manager Mark Kotsay told reporters, "That’s probably optimistic."
So third base is wide open, and Hernaiz has been getting a look there in camp.
While Abraham Toro seemed like the favorite to get the first look at third to begin the year, with Díaz going down, Toro's best use may be as a bit of a utility player, similar to how Díaz was used last season. If he's moving around the field, then third base will need a caretaker.
The main candidates are Hernaiz, Jordan Díaz, and A's No. 10 prospect Brett Harris. So far this spring, Hernaiz is 2-for-13 with one strikeout, Díaz, 23, is 2-for-12 with a walk and three strikeouts, and Harris, 25, is 1-for-7 with one strikeout.
Based solely off of usage, it looks like it'll be either Hernaiz or Díaz. While neither has hit quite yet, Hernaiz may have the edge defensively, which was not the case at shortstop with Allen. The one big caveat here is that Hernaiz played one game at the hot corner all last season and has just under 275 innings at the position as a professional. In just under 305 innings at third base in the majors last season, Díaz accumulated -5 Outs Above Average defensively.
Harris is the best defender of the trio, but he also hasn't played a ton of games above Double-A, getting into just 36 with Las Vegas last season.
If one of these three gets hot over the next two weeks, the nod could go to them, but if it remains close, Hernaiz also has the ability to swipe some bags, collecting 72 steals in 87 attempts (82.7%) in four seasons. Díaz has seven swipes in six seasons in the minors, while Harris has 24 in three seasons.
With Aledmys Díaz out for a short while, Hernaiz is the only other player projected for time at shortstop this season aside from Allen, so keeping him around just in case would also be a pretty smart move in case of injury.
It's not exactly the way that we'd envisioned for Hernaiz to make the Opening Day roster, but there is certainly a path for the 22-year-old to be in Oakland in just a few short weeks.
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