When catcher Freddy Fermin was traded from the Kansas City Royals on July 31, there may not have been a better place for him to go than San Diego.
As AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports, the city of Guayana in Venezuela is home to two Major League catchers—Fermin and Carlos Hernandez, who helped the Padres win the 1998 National League pennant. Oh, and Fermin’s father—Freddy Fermin Sr.—played with Hernandez in the town’s Little League.
“Hernandez has known Freddy Jr. since he was a baby,” Cassavell writes. “He remembers being asked by Freddy Sr. one winter to work with his son at a ballfield near their houses.”
Hernandez saw something in Fermin then, and his quickness especially stood out to the Major League veteran.
Now, Hernandez is a color analyst for San Diego’s Spanish radio, and he gets to watch Fermin help a team that sits only 2.0 games behind the Los Angeles Dodgers for the NL West lead. San Diego is 13.0 games above .500 at 64-51 and has earned a pair of series victories since the trade deadline.
“To bring a little dirt from not only my country, but my hometown, man,” Hernandez said, per Cassavell. “I haven’t been back in eight years…To see him here, it means a lot. For me, and for a lot of people back home, it means a lot to see that guy here.”
Fermin is slashing .438/.500/.500 over 5 games for the Padres with 3 RBI, including a 3-hit game last night to propel San Diego past Arizona, 3-2, in the series finale. He made his MLB debut in 2022 with Kansas City, where he served as a backup catcher to nine-time All-Star Salvador Perez. Fermin has a .271 batting average for his career in 771 at-bats.
Could Fermin follow in his hometown hero’s footsteps and help San Diego make a playoff push? That remains to be seen, but having won nine of their last 11 games, the Padres seem to be rolling at the right time.
