The Marlins were not looking for him to make a significant contribution the way Miguel Cabrera did when he was brought up from Double-A in June 2003, but Hermida has been compared to Braves' rookie Jeff Francoeur ever since the two were 14 years old growing up in the Atlanta area.

Called up from the Double-A Carolina Mudcats, Hermida made his major league debut with the Florida Marlins on August 31, 2005.

In his debut, Hermida became the second of only four players in history to hit a grand slam in his first major league at-bat, after Bill Duggleby in 1898, and followed by Kevin Kouzmanoff in 2006 and Daniel Nava in 2010.

Hermida is the only player to accomplish this feat as a pinch hitter, coming off St. Louis Cardinals pitcher Al Reyes.

On November 5, 2009, Hermida was traded to the Boston Red Sox for left-handed minor league pitchers Hunter Jones and Jose Alvarez.

[12] On December 12, 2014, he was released by the Brewers and signed with the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters of Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball.