Getting to Know Osvaldo Duarte and Jose Hernandez-Urquidy

I had my eye on Jose Hernandez (who now goes by Jose Hernandez-Urquidy or Jose Urquidy) because of his excellent work in his first two seasons as a professional in 2015 and 2016. But then he disappeared after the 2016 season. But he reappeared mid-way through the 2018 season with a brand new elbow and picked up precisely where he left off. 2019 is his first full season since coming back from Tommy John surgery and his first season at AA. Urquidy was rewarded for his hard work with the opening day start for the Corpus Christi Hooks and responded by giving the team five no-hit innings with one walk and seven strikeouts.

Jose Hernandez-Urquidy - April 2019

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Hooks Manager Omar Lopez described Urquidy as having great stuff and a great personality. Lopez likes his self-confidence and his ability to throw strikes. Urquidy is working on the command of all of his pitches and the shape of his slider. But one thing doesn't really need any work. "Personality-wise, he's one of the greatest guys that we have in the group. He works hard, always has a smile, always willing to help somebody. He's a great kid," said Lopez.

Similarly, utility player Osvaldo Duarte is a player who intrigued me in the early going and like Urquidy, 2017 was not kind to him as he scuffled through injuries. But he came back nicely in 2018 and is putting up some really solid numbers in his first taste of AA this season.

Osvaldo Duarte - April 2019

Photo by Jayne Hansen

Lopez has also been keeping an eye on Duarte over time and is happy to have the opportunity to work with him personally in order to develop his skills. He praised Duarte's tools, citing in particular his speed and his bat. But Duarte's versatility in the field is also becoming a larger part of his game. "We're trying to put him in a spot that he can play different positions to see if we can create more value for him in order to give him the playing time," said Lopez. Although Duarte is strongest in the middle infield, Lopez is comfortable using him at all of the outfield positions and third base in a pinch.

Hooks Hitting Coach Tim LaMonte said of Duarte, "Duarte is a very smart player that is a student of the game. He also has deceiving power, speed, and arm strength. We are working on him getting that power to show up more in his stats." With his 2019 slugging percentage hovering around 60 points higher than his career number, I would say LaMonte is doing a nice job with Duarte.

Duarte is 23 years old and was born in the Dominican Republic and Urquidy, from Mexico, just celebrated his 24th birthday last week. They are both recent graduates of the Astros English language curriculum and I know they will make their teachers proud. Enjoy!

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