The Los Angeles Dodgers are in the postseason for a 13th consecutive year, but it was not an easy road to October. Kiké Hernández believes veteran leadership was a major reason why the team was able to overcome a difficult final month of the season.
Hernández said September was a microcosm of the Dodgers’ season, as they battled through inconsistency and injuries. Throughout all of that, they were focused on pushing toward securing a playoff spot and the blank slate it provides.
“It was just up and down. We were very inconsistent and it was all about trying to survive and get to the postseason,” Hernández recalled. “And then once the postseason started, forget about the regular season and understand who we are as a group and understand that everybody’s coming for us.
“We have a target on our backs, so we had to play like it. At times it felt like we were kind of checked out during the regular season. Here we are now and these are the games that really matter.
“I think it was experience and age has a lot to do with it. We have a lot of young guys, but I think we have a very salty team as far as the age, especially the position-players side of it. We have a lot of experience. We know that it’s not that easy to turn it on and off. But we just need to find a way, and here we are.”
There’s been somewhat of a split opinion within the Dodgers clubhouse on flipping a proverbial switch for the playoffs, but thus far that appears to have been the case.
Kiké Hernández playing through back tightness
Hernández received the start in left field for Games 1 and 2 of the National League Wild Card Series against the Cincinnati Reds.
He had three at-bats on Tuesday night, collecting two hits with a run scored, before coming out of the game in the seventh inning. Alex Call pinch-hit for Hernández in the 8-2 win due to back tightness.
Hernández returned for Game 2, going 2-for-3 with an RBI. Hernández finished the Wild Card Series with four hits in six at-bats.
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