In his time with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kiké Hernández has established himself as a quality utility player, beloved figure in the clubhouse, fan-favorite and someone who knows how to come through in the postseason.
With the Dodgers facing elimination in the National League Division Series in Game 3, Hernández was inserted into the lineup after coming off the bench the first two contests.
Although the Dodgers lost, Hernández did his best to help spark the offense, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. He also added a single the day before to finish the playoff run hitting .375.
Over the course of his career, Hernández has batted .274/.351/.542/.893 in the playoffs, which is a step up from his regular season mark of .239/.311/.409/.720.
“I’m no mental performance coach, no brain doctor or anything,” Hernández began. “Just the way I put it is, I like to be in the moment. I want to be in the big moment. I want the big at-bat.
“I feel like I’ve been preparing for these types of moments my entire life. I never just dreamed about playing the big leagues, but I always envisioned myself, as a little kid, playing in the World Series, big moments in the World Series.
“I think possibly a little bit of it comes with culture. In Puerto Rico, at a very young age, games mean a lot and you’ve got parents on the other side talking a lot of smack. So when you’re a young kid and you get exposed to that at a very early age, it kind of prepares you for the bigger picture. And I think experience helps a lot.
“I’ve been fortunate enough to be on some really good teams that have made it deep into October, and it’s allowed me to play a lot of games in October. Experience means a lot when it comes to these types of moments.”
In 2017, Hernández hit three home runs in the NL Championship Series to help send the Dodgers to their first World Series since 1988. He finished that postseason batting .320/.452/.720.
Hernández also played a key role in 2020 when the Dodgers were crowned World Series champions, and one of his best performances came the following year with the Boston Red Sox when he hit .408 with a 1.260 on-base plus slugging in 11 games.
Kiké Hernández ‘embarrassed’ by NLDS sweep
The Dodgers fell short of their expectations in getting eliminated by a division-rival that lost 16 more games than them in the regular season. L.A. had multiple chances in Games 2 and 3 to take the lead or tie, but they were unable to capitalize on them.
“Kind of frustrated, kind of disappointed,” Hernández said after the Dodgers were swept.
“You could say embarrassed with the way the whole series went. They kept punching us in the face and we weren’t able to get back up. It’s hard. There’s just not a lot of words other than hurt, disappointed, frustrated and a little bit embarrassed.”
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