Sporting KC will likely turn again to Hernandez, whose patience earned him this chance

Felipe Hernandez could only watch and wait as a cascade of younger players signed homegrown contracts with Sporting Kansas City’s first team.

Gianluca Busio. Cameron Duke. Tyler Freeman. Jaylin Lindsey. Wan Kuzain.

All signed pacts with the first team before Colombia native followed suit.

“I can see how his perspective could have been when he saw some of the other guys getting signed before he did,” Sporting KC coach Peter Vermes said Monday.

Vermes used the word “adversity” to describe Hernandez’s wait to earn a first-team agreement.

Hernandez’s journey from 15-year-old playing for Sporting KC Academy affiliate Sporting Nashville Heroes, then to the academy, then to Sporting KC II and then, finally, to the first team is certainly a unique situation.

He’s the only player in Sporting KC history to make the ascension from an academy affiliate club all the way up to the first team.

In that time, Hernandez became an integral part of the organization’s under-18 team and earned a promotion to Sporting KC II in 2016, making 80 appearances for the club between 2017 and 2019.

Yet in that time he could only keep dreaming of landing an elusive contract as midfielders Busio, Duke and Kuzain ascended.

In short, it’s been a long way to the top for him.

“I wouldn’t say it was frustration or anything,” Hernandez said. “I used it more as something to keep me going and keep me working hard and just striving to try and get the call-up at some point.”

Hernandez finally signed a homegrown contract of his own in August 2019 at age 21.

And now, despite playing for just 95 minutes with the first team in 2019, the center midfielder has already made six substitute appearances in 2020 for 211 minutes of play. He’s expected to be named a starter against FC Dallas Wednesday.

And although many of those minutes have come due to injuries to other players and this year’s compact schedule, those factors don’t take away from how Hernandez has performed in 2020.

Veteran midfielder Roger Espinoza has described Hernandez as “a lot better than I was at 21 years old,” and Vermes says Hernandez is the “DNA of our club.”

“He’s got an incredible work ethic, great instincts for hunting the ball in that position as an eight,” Vermes said. “Just a really, really good mentality working for the team and he’s taken his chances well.”

Vermes has continued to provide those chances to Hernandez because of his ability to “bend and not break.” It’s a quality he looks for in any player, whether he’s looking to bring that player into the club from elsewhere and promote someone from the academy or SKC II.

But to learn whether a player bends or breaks means giving him opportunities in the first place. This helps explain why so many young players — Busio, Lindsey and now Hernandez — have earned expanded roles with the first team over the last couple of years.

“If you’re put into a difficult situation and you break, then you’re not going to win championships with players like that,” Vermes said. “These guys, even though they’re young, it’s a great experience for them. And it’s a great opportunity for us to see where they are and how they continue to keep growing.”

In Saturday’s 1-1 tie with the Colorado Rapids, Hernandez put in a 75-minute shift after being unexpectedly brought off the bench early following an injury to Espinoza.

Not only did Hernandez hold his own for the full 75 minutes, but for the final 20 he and 18-year-old Busio were the only Sporting midfielders on the team after Gadi Kinda was sent off.

Although KC spent much of those final 20 minutes on its heels, Colorado never seemed close to actually scoring. Part of that was due to the hard work put in midfield by Hernandez.

And now, with Kinda suspended, Ilie Sanchez out due to family issues and Espinoza day-to-day, Hernandez will likely be called upon again. It won’t be the first time he faces Dallas — 90 of his 95 minutes last season came in a start against Dallas, a 6-0 Sporting KC loss.

“Hopefully I’ll get some minutes and we’ll just see how the game goes,” Hernandez said. “Last year was a rough game, but it’s in the past. It’s a new game and a new season, so we look forward to it.”

And as for his continued inclusion in the starting 11?

“Just work hard and do whatever I can to produce and help the team out on the field,” Hernandez said. “It’s not something that I’ve tried to show out and impress people because the coaches have seen me for the past five years ... so they know what I bring to the game.”

This story was originally published August 31, 2020 at 3:46 PM with the headline "Sporting KC will likely turn again to Hernandez, whose patience earned him this chance."