The New York Mets, desperate for starting pitching, traded RP Jorge Julio to the Arizona Diamondbacks for SP Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez.  In his first season in the National League, Hernandez has been nowhere near as effective as he was in the American League.  However, the dimensions at Chase Field are not particularly favorable for pitchers. 

Consider El Duque’s home/road split.  At Chase Field, Hernandez is 0-3 with an 8.16 ERA, 1.85 WHIP (walks+hits per inning pitched), and a .319 BAA (batting average against).  On the road, El Duque is 2-1 with a 2.65 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, and .242 BAA.  It’s obvious that Hernandez needed to get out of Arizona in order to have a chance to pitch productively.

In New York, more to the point - Shea Stadium, El Duque will have a strong chance to right his ship of a season as he will be going to a pitcher’s park, backed by a huge offense that includes Carlos Delgado, Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, David Wright, et al.  In two career starts in Shea Stadium, Hernandez owns a 1-0 record with a 1.13 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, and .140 BAA.

Hernandez will likely become the fourth starter behind Pedro Martinez, Tom Glavine, and Steve Traschel.  He will also likely be looked upon to help rookie and fellow Cuban defector, Alay Soler acclimate to the majors, essentially becoming Soler’s mentor.

El Duque has proven his worth in New York before when he played for the New York Yankees from 1998-2004, helping the Yankees win three World Series titles in a row from ‘98-‘00.  Getting a chance to contend again, I’d look for Hernandez to bring his game up and help the Mets in a big way, the same way he did with the Chicago White Sox last season.