César Augusto Hernández (pronounced SAY-zahr; born May 23, 1990) is a Venezuelan professional baseball second baseman who is a free agent.

He has previously played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the Philadelphia Phillies, Cleveland Indians, Chicago White Sox, and Washington Nationals.

[1] Phillies' scouts Sal Agostinelli and Jesus Mendez signed him as an amateur free agent on July 2, 2006, at age 16.

[2] Hernández began his professional career in 2007, spending his first two seasons with the Venezuelan Summer League (VSL) Phillies.

Hernandez's improvement earned him another promotion in 2010, when he advanced to the Williamsport Crosscutters of the New York–Penn League (NY-Penn), with whom he enjoyed significant success.

John Sickels, a minor league baseball analyst for SBNation.com, noted that, entering the 2011 season, Hernández was an "overlooked" prospect with upper-echelon speed.

[7] He was an Eastern League mid-season and post-season All Star for his performance with Reading, earning his call-up to Lehigh Valley in August.

[2][6] Baseball America ranked him the Phillies best defensive infielder after the 2012 season, and MiLB.com named him a Philadelphia Organization All Star.

[1] In July, when Ben Revere sustained an injury, he was converted to a center fielder, a conversion he made quickly and effectively, garnering a call-up to the big leagues, as he was a "pleasant surprise".

[16] After the season, Hernández traveled to his native Venezuela to play for the Venezuelan Winter League Bravos de Margarita, with whom he hit .254/.318/.347, with 2 home runs and 15 RBIs.

Both players were expected to see significant time with the big-league team, predominantly due to the established core – players such as Utley, Ryan Howard, and Jimmy Rollins – being relatively old (in 2013, the Phillies average age was 28.4, the third-oldest in the Major Leagues)[18] and injury-prone over the preceding several seasons, leaving ample playing time for replacements such as Hernández,[19][20] especially considering the fact that he would be able to continue his development in the minor leagues after MLB granted the Phillies a fourth option year, essentially meaning that they could keep him in the minor leagues during the season without him having to clear waivers.

[21] Ultimately, he began the season on the major league roster, but was sent down to Reading (AA) in April to focus on honing his defensive skills at third base and shortstop.

[4] Entering 2015, analysts doubted his future with the major league club out of spring training, as several attempts to broaden Hernández's defensive versatility had failed.

[23] Most anticipated Hernández would start at second base on Opening Day in 2016, not necessarily because he was exceedingly good, but because there was no one else to replace him, and on a rebuilding club, an upgrade was not a high priority.

[23] Hernández began the Phillies' 2017 season by hitting a leadoff home run on Opening Day, April 3, at Cincinnati.

[29] He was the first Phillie to hit a leadoff homer on Opening Day since Heinie Mueller in 1938, and the first in the majors since Alfonso Soriano in 2009.

[23] He led the majors in total pitches faced (3,009), and walks when leading off an inning (33), tied for the major league lead in bunt hits (8), was 2nd in the National League in plate appearances (708), 3rd in infield hits (26), 4th in pitches/plate appearance (4.25), 6th in games played (161), and 9th in strikeouts (155) and times on base (252).

[42] He also earned his first career Gold Glove Award after finishing second among American League second basemen in defensive runs saved and posting a .981 fielding percentage.