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Burning Question

Will Gaby Hernandez move quickly and fit into the Marlins plans like some of their youngsters have in the last two seasons?

Hernandez couldn't find himself in a better position. He's a Miami native, so it's difficult to imagine that getting dealt to the Marlins last winter was met with anything less than excitement. He's a hometown kid about to make good and if he fulfills the promise he's already displayed, he'll be a marketing dream in South Florida.

But, don't think that this dream will become reality this season. Odds are that Hernandez won't be fulfilling that potential in Miami in 2007, and that's OK. Florida has so much young pitching that there's no real need to rush the young right-hander, who won't turn 21 until May.

Hernandez was 9-7 with a 3.68 ERA last season with Jupiter of the Florida State League. He struck out 115 in 120 innings, walked only 35 and held the opposition to a respectable .259 batting average. Those numbers are comparable and in some respects better than those of Chris Volstad, who is considered by some to be Florida's top pitching prospect.

Despite his success, there's no real reason to rush Hernandez to the big leagues. The Fish have promoted plenty of players in recent seasons from Double-A, so if Hernandez shows he's truly deserving and the need arises, that option is always available. But the Marlins know they have something special in the Met.

Hernandez, who has a low to mid-90s fastball, bulked up a bit over the winter, a fact that has impressed several of the scouts contacted by MiLB.com. He's also working on incorporating a cut fastball into his repertoire, a pitch that will add some flavor to his arsenal.

"His cut fastball is showing it could be a real good pitch," Florida's vice president of player development and scouting Jim Fleming said. "We introduced it to him at the end of last year and he had an injury [foot] that slowed him down. But then we brought him to mini-camp in September and he worked on it. He was with one of our coaches [Edwin Rodriguez] in winter ball so we could monitor it, and it went well.

"He's going to go to Double-A and if he pitches well, he'll be getting close. But I don't think we earmark anyone to move quickly. That's a bad idea. Let them tell you who is ready to move quickly, like in Dontrelle's [Willis] case or last year with Anibal Sanchez. If you push someone just because you want him to get there and he's not ready, it could be a bad experience. When they seem to feel they've accomplished what they can at one level, we try to get them to another level."