Jeremy Hermida is hoping for a complete season where he is healthy.
"People think that health doesn't lead to consistency, but it does," said Hermida, the No. 11 pick in the 2002 draft. "I was healthy for an extended period last year. I had some consistent at-bats and got into a groove."
Exactly who are these people that think health doesn't matter. Because if they are in the Marlins organization, we may need some better evaluators of talent.
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"We knew that he was going to hit," Gonzalez said. "We didn't lose confidence in him. Now, he has done it, and he will do it again. His power numbers will also increase with age. I don't think anyone was relieved because it was what we thought he could do."
Hermida thought he could do it, too, and he isn't particularly worried about his power numbers.
"I never worried about it," Hermida said. "I never lost confidence. Last year gave me some peace of mind. It reassured me that what I believed was right. I think of myself as a hitter with power, more of a gap-to-gap type of hitter, than a power hitter."
Hermida knows if he stays healthy, his production will take care of itself.
"Looking at last year, if I could hit .320 most of the time and avoid hitting .220 some of the time, it would be good," Hermida said. "Whatever I could do for a full year, I would expect a little bit more."
If Hermida can hit at a .320 clip for the season, he will put up some monster numbers. There are two things...uh...make that three things he needs to prove. The first and possibly the foremost is that he can stay healthy for an entire season. The second is that he can reproduce, roughly, his second half numbers for an entire season.
And finally, if he can achieve the status of at least being an average defensive major league right fielder.
If he does all that in the 2008 season, then I will proclaim the boy has arrived.