The Shark on his way back up

Over the past few seasons Roger Bernadina struggled at bat. After a career year with the Nationals in 2012, in which he batted .291 with a .372 OBP, 66 hits (of which eleven doubles and five homeruns). After that season his numbers went down, In 2013 he hit .178 with the Nationals before they released him on August 19 to make room for David DeJesus, who was acquired from the Cubs. Soon he was picked up by the Phillies. With that team he hit a bit better but still nothing to write home about: .187. The Phillies released him on October 16.

The next season, Bernadina signed a minor league deal with the Cincinnati Reds. An impressive srping training earned him a spot on the Reds’ opening day roster. After 44 games with an average of .153 he was released by the Reds on June 27. Once again, he was picked up by an MLB team, the Dodgers in this case, who sent him to AAA Albuquerque. Shortly before he would make a trip to Europe to join team Netherlands with the 2014 European Cup, Bernadina was called up by the Dodgers, who used him mainly as a pinch runner. In seven at bats he collected two hits with a homerun (.286).

After the season the 30-year old outfielder from Willemstad, Curacao, became a Free Agent again. He signed a minor league deal with the Rockies, who sent him to AAA Albuquerque (the Dodgers had moved their AAA team to Oklahoma City). First he struggled with the the Isotopes but in the last few weeks he is seeing the ball better. In his last ten games, Bernadina hitting .458 which helped his season average to rise from .250 to .307. In his last two games vs the Omaha StormChasers, he collected five hits out of eight at bats, with a homerun and four runs batted in.

Of course it takes more than one swallow to make a summer, but it looks like that Roger has fought his way back. I won’t be surprised if he will be called up any time soon, especially with outfielders Charlie Blackmon and Carlos Gonzalez having a mediocre batting average.