That vibrant personality that constantly lit up the room he was in. The willingness to go above and beyond, no matter what was asked of him that night on the mound. Jose Fernandez, gone much too soon; remembered today, on the first anniversary of his death.
Jose Fernandez (1992-2016): A Look Back
Fernandez was born in Santa Clara, Cuba on July 31, 1992. He had a humble beginning, trying four separate times to escape Cuba during Fidel Castro’s regime. He was turned back the first four times, along with his mother, until finally he was defected into the U.S. in 2008. There in Tampa, Florida, was where he first decided to pursue baseball professionally.
In 2011, he was drafted in the first round of the MLB Draft by the Florida Marlins. There, in his very first start of 2012 with the Class-A Greensboro Grasshoppers, he went on to pitch the first six innings of a combined no-hitter.
The 6’3″ pitcher went through the minor league system with a 14-1 win-loss ratio and a 1.75 ERA in his combined stints in Greensboro and eventually with the Jupiter Hammerheads of the Florida State League.
Fernandez was scheduled to pitch in his first career major league game on April 7, 2013 against the New York Mets. He had a record-breaking first outing being the first player age 21 or younger to record at least eight strikeouts since the 1916 season. He was the second-youngest player in the National League that year, only senior to the Washington Nationals’ Bryce Harper.
If you happened to be scrolling through Twitter on May 31, 2013 (four days after a tough outing against the Tampa Bay Rays), you may have come across a tweet from Rays’ then-manager Joe Maddon that praised the right hander.
Jose Fernandez might be the best young pitcher I’ve ever seen, at that age. I believe he will go far.
— Joe Maddon (@CubsJoeMadd) May 31, 2013
That was approximately five weeks prior to his first All-Star selection on July 6, 2013. During that game, he joined Dwight Gooden and Bob Feller as the only pitchers in the history of the All-Star Game to fan at least two batters before their 21st birthday.
Fernandez’s first season in the majors was nothing short of historic. He became the first pitcher since 2000 to record two consecutive games with 13 or more strikeouts. His rookie WAR of 4.2 puts him in the top 10 of players under 21 since 1900, as well as in the top four in adjusted ERA (1.74) out of pitchers 21 and younger in the last 100 years. At the end of his rookie season, he ranked first in strikeouts per nine innings (9.75). Because of these achievements, he was voted as National League Rookie of the Year in 2013.
Fast-forward to 2016; just two and a half short months after his second All-Star selection. On September 20, Fernandez would make his last start on the mound at home in Miami. In the early hours of September 25, the evening he was supposed to start against the Atlanta Braves, Fernandez and two friends were boating off-shore near Miami Beach, Florida, when he drove the vessel into a jetty at top speed of approximately 40 mph. The impact from the crash immediately killed the three men, as the boat had completely flipped over the large mass of rock.
Fernandez had the personality that everyone wanted to rub off on them just a little. Giancarlo Stanton considered him a boy among men. And that is why he will forever be remembered as “El Niño”.
Rest in peace, Niño. You are gone, but certainly never forgotten.
