The past few seasons have been a challenge for Kiké Hernández, but over the past month, he’s been a key contributor for the Los Angeles Dodgers.
From the start of the 2022 season until the All-Star break this year, Hernández has ranked as the fifth worst hitter in baseball among those with at least 1,000 plate appearances. In that stretch, he hit .223/.284/.339 with a 71 wRC+.
But since the All-Star break, Hernández has been a completely different hitter. He’s batted .278/.342/.444 with a 123 wRC+, doubling his offensive production from the first half.
The change Kiké Hernández made? Being able to see the ball again.
Just before the All-Star break, Hernández began wearing a pair of prescription eye glasses, and since then, it’s made all the difference for him.
“I mean, I would say yes,” Hernández answered when asked if the glasses had anything to do with his offensive contributions. “I started wearing them the series in Detroit for the first time in my life. And that series was kind of a little bit weird, because depth perception and all that.
“But the All-Star break was huge for me to get used to the glasses off the field. And once we were able to get back on the field, it was a smooth transition. And I’m not going to say no. I mean, it’s been timing. I’m seeing the ball better. I guess I needed them.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts added Hernández was not able to pick up spin on the baseball, and they were trying to figure out the reason before sending him to an optometrist.
That revealed an astigmatism in Hernández’s right eye.
“Once he put the glasses on, he’s seeing it a lot better and it coincides with him, in my opinion, swinging the bat better, controlling the strike zone better and making better swing decisions,” Roberts said.
“You’re never going to question the heartbeat, the want to be the guy, but he was just not in a position to see the baseball. Much better now.”
Kiké Hernández had eye test
Hernández decided to follow through on a visit to the eye doctor after talking to a former teammate, Martin Maldonado, who mentioned that he and some of his current teammates needed glasses and were previously unaware of that.
“And I was like, ‘All right, I mean, I’m going to try it out,'” Hernández said. “And sure enough, I went in and I have astigmatism in my right eye. And left eye, there’s no prescription in the left eye, but prescription on the right eye, and it’s working, so I’ll take it.”
Although players are vision tested in Spring Training, they are not the same thorough tests by optometrists.
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