In this article bemoaning Andy Pettitte’s latest injury, the Chronicle’s John Lopez rues the lack of viable alternatives to replace Pettitte in the Stros’ rotation and makes the following observation:

Carlos Hernandez, whom the Astros had hoped to be progressing by this point of the season to become an option, has not distinguished himself at Class AAA New Orleans.

Having followed Hernandez‘s progress at AAA New Orleans while recovering from labrum surgery, Lopez’s observation surprised me. So, I took another look at Hernandez’s current statistics.
While operating under a strict pitch count, Hernandez is 4-0 in nine starts, has an ERA of 2.54, has struck out 26 in 51 innings, and has given up only 18 walks. In other words, Hernandez’s stat line is as good as any pitcher on the Astros staff right now and better than most.
Inasmuch as Hernandez is still building arm strength, his velocity has not yet returned completely, and that is reflected in his relatively low strikeout totals. However, Lopez’s suggestion that Hernandez is not doing well at New Orleans reflects that he didn’t check the facts. This is a common characteristic of the Chronicle baseball writers, best reflected in their unquestioning support of such abysmal players as Brad Ausmus and Jose Vizcaino, and their oblivious acceptance of manager Jimy Williams‘ dubious decisions.