The Los Angeles Dodgers enjoyed an historic offseason that was headlined by signing Shohei Ohtani and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, while also trading for Tyler Glasnow.
Lost in all the glitz, glamor and star-power that comes with spending $1.2 billion in a single offseason were the subsequent signings of James Paxton and Teoscar Hernández to respective one-year contracts.
Adding Paxton and Hernández didn’t come with the same fanfare as the other moves the Dodgers made. But both have impressed thus far, which hasn’t come as a surprise to manager Dave Roberts or the organization.
“I think for me, it was two guys that really wanted to be here. I think Teoscar left money on the table to be a Dodger, and James did the same thing. So when you have players like that, that are accomplished, it shows they want to be here and they’ve already bought in,” Roberts said.
“I think for some people, they’re sneaky moves. But people in the baseball industry really understand the value of those two players. I just value those guys so much. You know what you’re going to get from both guys. Dependable players and very valuable.”
Paxton and Hernández taking lesser deals in order for the opportunity to be a part of the organization speaks to the reputation and team culture that the Dodgers have created in the past 10 years.
Hernández’s presence has been invaluable to the Dodgers in his limited appearances with the club and has already been instrumental in several Dodgers’ victories during their seven game home-stand. Paxton has only made one start so far for the Dodgers, but showed a lot of promise with room to grow with five-innings of no-run ball.
Teoscar Hernández showing off power
Hernández entered play Friday batting .257/.316/.657 with 10 RBI and is second on the team in home runs with four. The timing of his homers has been where Hernández made the greatest impact as the 31-year-old has had a knack for delivering in big moments.
Hernández accounted for four of the six Dodgers’ runs in a 6-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on March 29. He then hit an eighth-inning homer that helped spark a comeback victory two days later. Finally, Hernández slugged three-run homer against the San Francisco Giants on Monday that helped to put the game out of reach.
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