MWL notes: Fernandez gets acclimated

Pablo Fernandez, who left his native Cuba last season and signed an $8 million deal with the Dodgers, stood in the dugout watching his first game with Great Lakes after being assigned there in late June.

"He comes over to me and says, 'Hey, in America, everybody swings at 2-0,'" recalled Loons pitching coach Glenn Dishman.

"I was like, 'Yup,'" Dishman responded with a conspirator's smile.

Fernandez, 25, is quickly learning the nuances of professional baseball in America as he embarks on a journey that he hopes leads to Dodger Stadium. He's 0-1 with a 4.41 ERA in five professional starts split between the Arizona League Dodgers and Great Lakes Loons with four of the eight earned runs he's allowed over 16 1/3 innings coming in a July 17 loss to Bowling Green. Fernandez has struck out 17 and walked three.

A native of Holguin, Cuba, Fernandez is a 6-foot-1, 185-pound right-hander who is trying to learn the U.S. professional baseball system quickly. He debuted in the Cuban National Series as a 17-year-old in 2007 and was a reliever until the Dodgers decided to make him a starting pitcher.

"There's a big difference coming from Cuba, throwing two innings a game," Fernandez said through an interpreter. "Now I have to throw more than four or five innings. The Dodgers talked to me about making the change to starter. I went to Arizona to get ready and throw more pitches so I could get my body ready. I'm getting ready to throw more than four innings and help the team win."

Though Fernandez possesses low-90s heat, his effectiveness is based on the variety of weapons he can throw at opposing batters.

"He's crafty," Dishman said of Fernandez. "He knows how to spot the ball, sink it and cut it up a little bit. He can throw a couple different breaking balls, and he's got a nice changeup. He's a veteran-type pitcher. He's even got a knuckle pitch that tumbles forward and rolls like a curveball. He definitely has a full repertoire of pitches.

"You don't see the 95- or 98-mph fastball, and you don't see the unbelievable splitter, or something like that, that's way off the charts. What makes him tough is that he's able to command and make so many different pitches look like different pitches. A pitcher can typically have a slider and a curveball, and they all kind of blend together, whereas his have different separation on their speeds and their actions. That's the impressive part about him."

Fernandez is pitching in the Midwest League to get acclimated to pro baseball.

"Baseball is pretty much the same everywhere, but there are differences," Fernandez said. "In Cuba, you can be successful with a fastball. Here, you have to throw a changeup and breaking ball in addition to a fastball to be successful. That's the main difference. Right now, every single pitch, I try to focus on throwing it low. I'm trying to do the best I can to be successful."

Fernandez said his defection from Cuba was a lengthy process.

"I was waiting for this moment a long time to come and play baseball in the United States," Fernandez said. "I'm grateful that the Dodgers gave me the opportunity to be here."

Fernandez hopes that the recent warming of political relations between the United States and Cuba will open doors to a lot more baseball talent in Cuba.

"I hope that every single Cuban player has the chance, legally, to come here and play baseball, because there is good talent in Cuba," Fernandez said. "Right now, it's hard for Cubans to plays sports in America. I hope, in a couple of years, that changes and Cubans can come here and play the best sport in the world."

In brief

Golden experience: South Bend third baseman Jesse Hodges, a native of British Columbia, has been having fun with his Cubs teammates since returning from the Pan-Am Games with champion Canada. "One of them had asked me for some Team Canada batting gloves," he said. "I came into the locker room with a gold medal in one pocket and the batting gloves in the other, and I was like, 'Hey man, here are your batting gloves,' and I pulled out the medal. He was like, 'Oh, man, let me see that.' I've been playing jokes and messing around with people."

Hodges also displayed plenty of Canadian pride after the champiobship victory against the U.S. "We won the last Pan-Am Games," Hodges said of Canada's baseball prowess. "Everyone thinks we're easy and we roll over. We're good ballplayers, and we play with a lot of heart. We may not be the best talented team, but we come together and get the job done."

Still streaking: Though they fell short of earning a first-half playoff berth after bursting out of the game to start the year, the Kane County Cougars are off to a blistering start yet again, sporting a 23-5 second-half record. The Cougars have won 28 of their last 33 games.

More streaking: Peoria captured its seventh consecutive road win Monday, the first time the Chiefs accomplished the feat since 2006. That season, the Chiefs set a franchise record with nine consecutive road wins. Peoria next plays on the road July 28 against Wisconsin.