The Los Angeles Dodgers held their penultimate intrasquad game at Dodger Stadium on Thursday night, with Kiké Hernandez’s team having the opportunity to take its second straight victory and earn a series win over Justin Turner’s team.
With bragging rights on the line, the underdog Team Kiké came out swinging the bat well once again and cruised to a 6-1 win, much to the dismay of Turner. Hernandez actually helped out his own cause by slugging a grand slam off prospect Brett de Geus to put the game out of reach.
The home run was Hernandez’s second of Dodgers Summer Camp. While there hasn’t been much time for the team to get ready for Opening Day, which is just a week away, Hernandez and a number of other players have already looked locked in at the plate.
Kiké bullet!
pic.twitter.com/WYaXsNWLbF
— SportsNet LA (@SportsNetLA) July 17, 2020
“As close as I can be I guess for how long we’ve been here and the way I feel on the field on defense, at the plate, how I’m seeing the ball,” Hernandez said of his feel at the plate.
“I’m starting to get my timing a little bit better now, my contact point and stuff so I’m looking forward to playing this Dodgers series these next three days and then playing against other teams and see if the awkwardness of no fans sustains when we’re playing an opposing team compared to when we’re playing intrasquad games.”
Hernandez is expected to be the Dodgers’ primary utilityman in 2020 as he usually is, although with the addition of the universal designated hitter and L.A. planning to utilize it to get their everyday players some rest, he could be in the lineup and playing the field at a different position almost every day as well.
Hernandez comments on crowd noise
The Dodgers will be using artificial crowd noise this season to account for not having fans in the stadium, so they have been testing it out in recent intrasquad games.
Before hearing it in a game environment, Hernandez wasn’t exactly in favor of crowd noise, especially when the Dodgers are playing defense. “Well, I tend to be pretty loud so I like the fact that everybody can hear me when I talk on the field,” he said.
“But I think it’s kind of an advantage when you’re playing defense and you actually get to get a clear sound of the crack of the bat, especially when you’re playing outfield to know where the bat is hitting the ball, if they’re getting jammed or hitting it off the end.
“But I have yet to hear the crowd noise because I wasn’t here when they were auditioning the fake crowd but I think we’re gonna be able to hear it tonight hopefully and I guess I’ll be able to answer that question whenever I hear it for the first time.”
Hernandez was pumping up the fake crowd while celebrating after hitting his grand slam, so perhaps he has changed his mind after hearing the artificial crowd noise in action.
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