2024 review: Kiké Hernández

12/20/2024 01:19 PM

Hernández struggled through the first four months of the regular season, but with the introduction of new eyeglasses, he became a valuable asset the rest of the way, especially so in October.

After being acquired from the Red Sox at the 2023 trade deadline, Kiké Hernández finished the season strong and was one of a select few productive Dodgers hitters during their brief postseason run.

Hernández signed back with the Dodgers for season with the hopes of bringing his team back to the World Series for the first time since 2020.

Hernández had a limited role with the Dodgers to begin the season, starting just six games in through April while usually getting his bulk of playing time against left handed pitching.

Hernández early on primarily manned center field, sprinkling time at left field and second base along with sparse playing time at the corner infield positions. With an oblique injury to Max Muncy in mid-May keeping him out until August, Hernández was slotted in as the primary third baseman for the Dodgers, and on the season, he would log the most innings he had at the hot corner in his career.

Offensively, Hernández put up similar numbers in the first half of 2024 as to how he played with Boston during the 2022 and 2023 seasons. Even when he secured the starting third base job in Muncy's absence, he still slashed just .171/.250/.276 with two home runs and six RBI in 37 games leading up to the Dodgers' final series of the first half against the Detroit Tigers.

It was during this series where Hernández began wearing eyeglasses on the field, with the reason being a recent diagnosis of astigmatism in his right eye which caused blurry vision.

Over his following 58 games in the regular season, his performance at the plate increased significantly, as he slashed .269/.301/.463 with eight home runs and 29 RBI. Even with the eventual return of Muncy and Mookie Betts to the starting lineup, Hernández still found decent playing time starting in center field alongside Tommy Edman and helped fill in first base duties with Freddie Freeman's frequent absences.

Postseason legend

With Freddie Freeman back in the lineup for the NLDS against the Padres, Hernández once again was subjected to a limited role for the team. Over the first three games, he had just two at-bats while tallying four innings in the Dodgers' Game 2 loss.

With Miguel Rojas aggravating his adductor strain and with Freeman still dealing with a sprained ankle that kept him out of action for Games 4 and 5, Hernández was called upon to fill in center field duties, with utility man Edman moving back to the infield.

The Dodgers' offense came to collect in Game 4, sending the series back to Los Angeles for a winner-take-all Game 5. Against Padres starter Yu Darvish, Hernández uncorked the first pitch he saw into the left field pavilion to give the Dodgers an early 1-0 lead. The other Hernández, Teoscar, chased Darvish out of the game with a solo home run of his own. The Dodgers won the decisive Game 5 2-0 to set up an NLCS matchup with the Mets.

When interviewed postgame by Ken Rosenthal, Hernández was asked what makes the 2024 Dodgers such a unique team among all the postseason teams he'd been a part of.

"Are we live? The fact that we don't give a fuck."

Hernández continued his postseason legacy in Game 3 of the NLCS, swatting a two-run home run off of Mets reliever Reed Garrett to put the Dodgers out in front 4-0. Hernández continued to play well throughout the remainder of the postseason, slashing .267/.353/.333 over the final eight games the Dodgers played in October.

Hernández's 10 postseason home runs with the Dodgers place him tied with Steve Garvey for the fifth most in franchise history. His 15 career postseason home runs are tied with Jayson Werth and Babe Ruth for 20th all-time in baseball history, and he ranks 10th among active players for postseason home runs.

2024 particulars

Age: 32

Stats: .229/.281/.373, 12 HR, 42 RBI, 16 2B, 83 wRC+, 1.3 rWAR, 0.7 fWAR

Salary: $4 million

Game of the year

Although he wasn't in the starting lineup, Hernández came in as a pinch hitter against his former team the Red Sox on July 20. Down a run in the ninth inning, Hernández punched a solo home run to tie the game against Boston closer Kenley Jansen. In his next at-bat, with his team down a run once again, Hernández smacked a single up the middle to tie the game at six in the 10th inning. The Dodgers ended up winning 7-6 on a walk-off single from Will Smith.

Roster status

Hernández is a free agent.