Teoscar Hernández was the hero in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ victory against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday night, delivering a go-ahead three-run home run in the sixth inning that proved to be the difference.
It was Hernández’s first hit since returning from the 10-day injured list.
“I’m just trying to get going right now,” Hernández said of his feelings after hitting the homer. “Trying to get good pitches to hit, trying to get on base for the other guys, trying to find my rhythm again and just do things to help this team.”
Hernández’s groin injury caused him to miss two weeks, which is unfortunate because he was in the midst of an excellent stretch at the plate. He was batting .448/.467/.690 in the last seven games before landing on the IL.
It has been an adjustment so far, particularly hitting against the fastball, but Hernández is taking it step by step.
“I feel good. Not the way I was before my injury, but just trying to get on time with the fastball right now,” Hernández said. “It looks a little harder than usual, but, trying to play hard, get into my routine and get into rhythm.”
During his at-bat against Corbin Burnes in the sixth inning, Hernández twice swung and missed at pitches outside of the zone. It put him in a 1-2 count before crushing a hanging slider.
“Just to slow the game down, be calm, not trying to expand the strike zone,” Hernández said in regard to the walk he took outside the batter’s box between pitches.
“I chased two out of the strike zone after the first pitch. Just trying to walk around, talking to myself, stay calm and just trying to hit the ball.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts praised Hernández’s ability to stay even-keeled inside an at-bat.
“I think the thing with Teo is that even when he takes bad swings or has a bad at-bat, he doesn’t let it bleed into the next at-bat or the next swing,” Roberts said. “And he just did a really nice job collecting himself, staying within himself in the at-bat, and took advantage of a mistake.”
Even if Hernández is still working to get back to full speed, his teammates are glad to have his presence back in the lineup.
“Oh, it’s huge,” Mookie Betts said. “It just makes our lineup a lot longer. It makes it tough to kind of navigate through. He does things like this, that’s the beauty of him.”
Teoscar Hernández embraces key moments
Hernández has been one of the Dodgers’ most reliable hitters in clutch situations since joining the organization last season. The key to his success is treating the moment like any other, not doing too much and letting the results follow.
“Honestly, I don’t really think about big moments,” he said. “I always say, and it’s been working really good for me, try to go up there, not think about the guys that are on base or in scoring position. I know if I hit the ball, it’s a big chance that it can be a hit or out of the ballpark.”
Roberts’ believes Hernández’s success comes from his ability to manage his emotions and the fact he’s not afraid of failure.
“I think it just tells me that he relishes those spots. He’s not afraid to fail. He can manage his emotions. He can kind of fend off a fastball, he can hit and slug or hit soft stuff, secondary pitches. He can hit to all fields,” Roberts said.
“And that’s what you have to do to be able to drive in runs. And if you look at baseball, he’s really in the elite class of the ability to drive in runs.”
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