After graduating from Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia, Hermida was the Marlins' No. 1 draft pick (11th overall) in the 2002 Major League Baseball draft, signed by Marlin scout, Joel Smith. He was one of the highest-rated minor league players that season, Hermida was a rising star in minor league baseball before being brought up. 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. Although the major difference between the two players is Hermida's eye for the strike zone, Hermida is one of the rare few in the minor leagues who was encouraged to swing more and walk less.

Called up from the Double-A Carolina Mudcats, Hermida made his major league debut with the Florida Marlins on August 31, 2005. The Marlins promoted Hermida before September 1 so that he would be eligible to be on the Marlins' postseason roster, however the Marlins, who led the wild-card race on September 13, lost 12 of their next 14 games and were eliminated from postseason contention. 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.

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