Tigers are quickly learning the Carlos Hernández reality that KC Royals already knew

After bouncing around the league a bit in so far in 2025, Carlos Hernández found his way onto the Detroit Tigers a few weeks ago, after he was DFA'd by the Philadelphia Phillies.

Since joining the Tigers bullpen though, to say it hasn't gone swimmingly would be an understatement.

In fact, Hernández is perfectly showcasing as to why he was cut by the Kansas City Royals during Spring Training and then subsequently sent packing by the Phillies.

Carlos Hernández's struggles as a KC Royal have carried over to Detroit

To say Hernández had a bad season in 2024 wouldn't be entirely fair. He did manage to throw to a respectable 3.30 ERA and .214 BAA in 30.0 innings of work.

That being said, his blistering fastball didn't make him absent of struggles, as control was a big issue for the fireballing right-hander. He was walking hitters as a 12.4% mark and not countering it with nearly enough strikeouts, as his K-rate sat below average only just eclipsing 20% (20.9%). This resulted in an inflated WHIP of 1.33.

So when the Royals designated him for assignment towards the end of spring training, it wasn't all that surprising given these underlying metrics.

Now in 2025, the Royals look vindicated for their choice to cut Hernández, as things haven't gone to plan both from an underlying and surface level standpoint.

In 25 appearances in Philadelphia, the control issues were back as he was walking 10.6% of hitters and only striking out 18.7% of hitters. This time though, he wasn't getting the benefit of the doubt when it came to surrendering hits, as he held a .296 BAA. This resulted in a high ERA (5.26) and high WHIP (1.75).

Now, on the Tigers, it hasn't suddenly changed. Sure, Hernández's BAA has dropped down to .211 and his K-rate is up to 31.8%, but he's still walking hitters at an extremely high 13.6% clip. This has again resulted in a high 5.40 ERA and 1.40 WHIP.

Hernández got away with it to some degree in 2024 by only allowing hitters to hit his four seam fastball, which he's consistently utilized for over half his pitch usage, at a .193 clip. Now, while his control has still been off, his fastball has not been nearly as reliable, as opponents are teeing off on it, hitting for a .302 AVG this season.

Given his 7.39 ERA in 2022 and his 5.27 ERA in 2023, the Royals obviously saw this type of output coming. And now the Tigers are seeing first hand exactly what the Royals knew.