When playing the game of predicting what the Red Sox will need during this season's trade deadline two months from now, the consensus was some sort of high-leverage reliever that could get whatever big outs might be lurking on the way to closer Matt Barnes.
Saturday night, the Red Sox found that guy.
His name is Darwinzon Hernandez.
Make no mistake about it, Hernandez wasn't the only bit of optimism emanating from the Red Sox' bullpen during Alex Cora's club's 4-3 win over the Phillies. Adam Ottavino struck out the side on 15 pitches in the eighth inning before Barnes closed things down in the ninth.
But it is Hernandez who represents the opportunity to truly uncover a late-inning difference-maker. This reality was put on full display in the seventh inning.
With just one out, the Red Sox clinging to a two-run lead and the bases loaded, Philadelphia's most potent threat, Bryce Harper, stepped to the plate.
Three Hernandez fastballs later, Harper was walking back to the dugout and the Red Sox' reliever was celebrating the possibility of uncovering a defining moment.
“I went out there with the mindset that I just had to go out there and attack the hitters,” Hernandez said. “It’s something that we always try to do when we’re in the game, just attack, attack, attack and I was able to do that and get the job done.”
Hernandez did experience a bit of a hiccup during this memorable outing, hitting Rhys Hopkins with a first-pitch fastball to force in a run. But the lefty's answer to that adversity might have said just as much as the Harper strikeout, with Hernandez coming back to get Brad Miller on an inning-ending punch out.
“You know, it was a big moment. A big spot,” Hernandez said. “Obviously after I hit the previous batter I had the bases loaded and it’s just a lot of emotions flowing through. When I was able to get that out, it was an exciting moment.”
It was the kind of spot Cora has desperately wanted to trust Hernandez in, with the payoff having been somewhat uneven due to some questionable command.
But if his last four appearances are any indication, Hernandez might just be on to something. During that stretch the reliever hasn't allowed a hit or run, striking out seven and walking four over 3 2/3 innings. The Red Sox have won each of those games.
It's a dramatic change for the image portrayed through Hernandez's first 14 outings, of which only three didn't include at least one baserunner.
It's a development that has undoubtedly been high on the Red Sox' wish-list. Saturday night proved to be a pretty good gift.