Two Riverside City College products are drawing attention in the big leagues this week — one cementing his roster spot with a fresh contract, the other quietly putting together one of Miami's more reliable bullpen stretches.
Hernández Gets Another Braves Deal
Right-hander Elieser Hernández is back in the Atlanta organization after re-signing with the Braves on a minor league contract. The 31-year-old has become something of a fixture in Atlanta's depth rotation, now inking his fourth minor league deal with the club. Per MLB Trade Rumors, Hernández has slid into the same veteran utility role previously held by Carlos Carrasco and fellow RCC alum Jesse Chavez — a revolving door of experienced arms the Braves have leaned on to stabilize their pitching depth. It's a modest deal, but the fact that Atlanta keeps coming back to Hernández says something about the value he brings to a winning organization.
Petersen Turning Heads Out of Miami's Bullpen
Meanwhile, Michael Petersen is doing his best work of the season at exactly the right time. The Marlins righty appeared in back-to-back games against Arizona this week, delivering a clean inning with two strikeouts in Wednesday's 4-2 Miami win and three strikeouts across another scoreless frame in Tuesday's 7-8 loss. His ERA after Wednesday's outing sits at 3.08 — sharp work for a reliever on a Marlins squad that has had little to play for down the stretch. Petersen has quietly become one of the more dependable arms in a Miami bullpen that's been a work in progress all season.
The RCC Pipeline
It's worth noting the breadth of the Riverside City College MLB footprint this week. Hernández, Petersen, and Chavez — all tied to the same junior college program out of Riverside, California — are all active in the league simultaneously. Chavez, a long-tenured veteran, has occupied the same kind of organizational glue-guy role in Atlanta that Hernández is now stepping into. That three alumni are contributing at the MLB level, even in depth and bullpen capacities, underscores a recruiting and development legacy that belies RCC's small-school profile.
With the regular season winding down, Petersen will look to keep his ERA sharp and strengthen his case for a roster spot heading into next season. Hernández, back on a minor league deal, will aim to convert organizational trust into a spring training opportunity. Either way, Riverside City College's alumni are making noise in the season's final weeks.
AI-generated summary
