After walking the first two people he saw this year and looking clueless, Roberto Hernandez, in his next two outings (three innings, one hit, a run, two strikeouts) is at least showing flashes of the talent that rescued him from having to work his way back from Vancouver.
”They`ve noticed, going back to some videotapes from last year, that my angle of throwing the ball had changed,” said the right-hander. ”I was coming straight over the top, and that was why my control had diminished a little bit.”
The job now, Hernandez said, is keeping his arm where it belongs. That`s where Ron Karkovice comes in.
”Last game, Karko came out and said I threw one pitch coming straight over the top,” said Hernandez. ”It`s hard to pick up where you`re throwing the ball from.
”From there, I was throwing more consistent strikes.”
And his confidence? ”Doubt in myself? I never had that. It was just frustrating knowing you`re a lot better than what you`ve shown.”
They ain`t heavy: Steve Sax, Frank Thomas and Robin Ventura are batting a combined .210 (26 hits in 124 at-bats) with one homer (by Thomas, Opening Day) and nine RBIs.
Ventura, the leader at .217, is 1 for his last 12 and can`t point to any one problem.
”I just haven`t felt good,” he said. Cure: ”You just keep hitting until you feel good.”
Catch this: The last seven Sox games have averaged a few seconds short of 2 hours, 30 minutes. Average for all of 1991: 3:08.
What became of . . . Brian Harrison? The left-hander chosen in the 1991 Rule 5 draft out of the Montreal organization and injured in camp last spring is back with the Sox and beginning to throw again. Harrison, who underwent surgery on his throwing arm May 17, is in Sarasota in an extended spring training as part of his rehab.
”I can`t get over how well the Sox have treated me,” said Harrison. ”I look for myself to be able to pitching competitively in July, if everything goes real well.”
Harrison was returned to Montreal last spring, and the Expos bounced him back to the Sox when they found he was hurt.
