Hernan Iribarren Sets Sights on Reds’ Roster
Hernan Iribarren isn’t your typical minor leaguer. Most players who make their way through the pipeline either get promoted and stick with a big league club or hang up the cleats once they reach a point where they’re no longer a prospect, realizing their age is higher than the number of plate appearances in the majors.
Before last season, Iribarren qualified for the latter, as the then-30-year-old had accumulated just 29 big league plate appearances in 10 seasons as a professional ballplayer. Despite barely sniffing a major league field throughout his career, Iribarren hasn’t let his love for the game waver while chugging away in the minors in hopes of latching onto an MLB team like the Cincinnati Reds.
Iribarren got his first taste of the big leagues with the Milwaukee Brewers in 2008 after spending five years in their organization. He was used primarily as a pinch-hitter and managed only two hits in 15 plate appearances before getting sent down for the remainder of the season.
Iribarren experienced déjà vu the following year. The Brewers called him up, but after hitting .231 in 14 plate appearances, the club shipped him back down to the minors. Once again, Iribarren hardly received an opportunity to prove that he belonged in the big leagues.
“It really hurt me when they sent me down that second year,” Iribarren said. “I told my wife that was one of the worst moments of my career.”
Life didn’t get any easier for Iribarren after that. In 2011, he tore his ACL right before the season started. It was a life-changing moment for Iribarren, but not in the way that one might expect.
“At first I thought my career was over,” Iribarren recalled. “But looking back I always say that was the best thing that happened in my life because in that weakest moment and hole I was into, I became a Jesus follower.”
Iribarren’s faith in Jesus helped him overcome a grueling rehab process and relinquish any thoughts of calling it quits.
Fast forward to 2016. Iribarren was in his third season at Triple-A Louisville and appeared to be slowly declining. After hitting above .300 for the majority of his minor league career, Iribarren produced a .244 batting average in his first two years with the Bats.
The notion that his age was beginning to catch up to him was a bit premature, though, as Iribarren continued to stay the course and put together arguably his best season as a ballplayer last year. The Venezuelan native hit an International League-leading .327, becoming the first Louisville player since the franchise joined the IL in 1998 to win the batting title.
Iribarren’s bat combined with his versatility — he appeared at every position on the diamond except catcher in 2016 — didn’t go unnoticed by the Reds and was eventually awarded a September call-up, ending a seven-year absence from the big leagues.
“For me it was pretty special because I went through a lot of ups and downs since then and really worked hard to accomplish that goal of getting back to the big leagues,” Iribarren said.
In his first game in a Reds uniform, Iribarren started at second base for the injured Brandon Phillips and went 1-for-4 with a run scored. The hit was his first in 2,569 days, which is the longest span between major league hits for any non-pitcher since Erick Almonte ended his drought of 2,745 days in 2011.
Iribarren went on to have success in a limited role with the Reds, slashing .311/.311/.444 with three triples in 45 plate appearances.
Iribarren acknowledges that he may only have a few years left in him. But in the meantime, the veteran utility man is focused on making the Reds’ 25-man roster out of spring training after last year reassured him that he still has plenty left in the tank at age 32.
“I know I have the talent to play at the next level,” Iribarren said. “That’s what keeps me going.”
