Kiké Hernández was among the participants for an alternate broadcast of the National League Championship Series on truTV, as he joined former Los Angeles Dodgers reporter Alanna Rizzo and a panel that included Pedro Martínez, Albert Pujols, Yonder Alonso and Néstor Cortés.
The “Postseason ALTcast: Peloteros” broadcast featured a wide range of discussion as the Arizona Diamondbacks and Philadelphia Phillies played Game 1, with topics including the Dodgers getting swept in the NL Division Series, challenges of being a Latin player, the World Baseball Classic and more.
The same group is also going to be part of the ALTcast on truTV for Game 2, while Iván Rodríguez is replacing Hernández on the panel in Game 3.
TBS remains the exclusive home of traditional broadcasts for all NLCS games.
Best Kiké Hernández quotes
Diamondbacks swept Dodgers
Kiké Hernández started just once but appeared in all three NLDS games. He had multiple hits and an RBI in the Dodgers’ elimination loss.
“I mean, they ran through us. They’re hot, they’ve got momentum on their side. But I feel like every team that’s still alive has momentum on their side. This is a very young, hungry team that is extremely athletic on the offensive side, defensive side. They defend well, they run the bases really well, they can do the little things offensively but they can also slug.
“Their pitching staff, I think they have really good starting pitchers. And I feel like the bullpen gets overlooked a lot. They have quality arms that give you a lot of different looks. They’ve got some lefty sinkerballers and they’ve got sidearm righties. Every guy coming out of that ‘pen is completely different from the guy before, and I think that makes them really dangerous.”
Diamondbacks trade for Tommy Pham & Paul Sewald
“I think there were two very underrated trades at the deadline: Tommy Pham and Paul Sewald. Sewald gives them somebody in the ninth inning that’s reliable and that’s going to give everybody an uncomfortable at-bat, whether you’re a lefty or righty. But what Tommy Pham does to the lineup, what he does in the locker room, I’ve played with a lot of people throughout my career, he might be the most intense teammate I’ve ever had. Tommy Pham is Game 7 of the World Series every day. I didn’t know what to expect.
“You hear things about players around the league, but you don’t know, and I absolutely loved every minute of my time being teammates with Tommy Pham. The edge he brings to the locker room, the edge he brings to his work, this is a guy that believes in himself big time and believes in the guys he’s strapping in to go to war with. I think he gives them a confidence boost.”
Zac Gallen allowed home runs to Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper
“He’s already missed his spot two more times than he did against us. He did not miss his spot one time against us, and he’s missed his spot twice in one inning, and it’s two-nothing.
“I think it’s interesting now. The Diamondbacks came back from being down three runs in both games against the Brewers, but they were never down against us, so they haven’t been down in a game in two weeks.”
Cheering for fellow Puerto Ricans and Latin players in postseason
“Oh, 100%. For me personally, I’ve been there and I’ve done it. I know what that feels like, and I want everybody to be able to experience that. As a fellow athlete and competitor, you like to see people succeed and succeed at the highest level in the most important games of the season. Of course you’re happy for your friends and countrymen.”
Diamondbacks playing from behind against Phillies
“They put up a six-spot real quick and it just sucked the energy out of the stadium. It just felt like we were down from the get-go. Before we were able to take an at-bat, we were down six and it almost felt like we lost the game.”
Trea Turner turned season around
“Oh, yeah. It seems like the superstars, their slumps last two games. Where my slumps last three or four weeks.”
World Baseball Classic compared to World Series
Kiké Hernández joined the list of players who believe excitement with the World Baseball Classic is superior to that of the World Series.
“I’ve been blessed to play in three World Series, and the emotion of the World Series falls short of the emotions of the WBC. For Trea Turner to be playing in the WBC, the whole world was watching, Miami Marlins Park is like no other atmosphere during that series, and to be at that high, your emotions are that high early in the season, and he’s going off. He’s going absolutely off. He’s unconscious for a week, two weeks, with all that emotion and those games mean so much, and then you’ve got to back to Spring Training for two weeks. Then you play regular season games, that of course they matter, but compared to the magnitude of a WBC game, it feels like you’re playing exhibition games still. Baseball is so hard to turn it on and off. For me, that’s what happened with Trea. He was at the highest of highs, playing in the WBC and going off, and he has to go back to Spring Training and Opening Day. He’s on a new team, new city, it’s all about getting adjusted to all these new things that he’s got going on. I think the emotions were way too high early in the season. There’s nothing that can prepare you for that.”
Being bilingual
“For me personally, I was very fortunate that my parents did what they had to do to get me a good education and have me grow up being bilingual. I saw firsthand with all the Puerto Rican guys that got drafted the same year I did. We came up together, and them not being able to just communicate and something as simple as ordering food. Those were some of the challenges aside from being in a completely different country from the one you grew up. Your whole family is in a different country and there’s so many times through our careers where you just feel so alone. Especially in the Minor Leagues.
“But then getting to the big leagues, I will never forget it and I will forever be extremely grateful. I got called up to the big leagues and I had 20 dollars in my bank account. If it wasn’t for Carlos Corporán being with the Houston Astros, I was fortunate enough to have my best friend off the field be my teammate. If he wasn’t there, he and his wife helped me out. They took me in, they picked me up from the airport, they brought me into their house, I wouldn’t have been able to survive those first two weeks in the big leagues. I got called up when I was 22, I had no credit card, I had nothing. All I had was 20 dollars in my bank account and that was it.”
“Obviously the media is super important to express yourself and have that message go out there authentic and every word comes out of your word and not through somebody else. But also the importance of connecting with teammates. Not just in the clubhouse, but in game. It’s huge for in-game adjustments. To be able to have a Latin guy communicate with an English-speaking hitting coach, or Latino pitching coach, or pitcher communicating with a pitching coach in-game, it means the world to us.”
Chase Utley advice
Kiké Hernández and Chase Utley developed a strong friendship during their time as teammates, which was invaluable for the former.
“In 2018, we were getting ready to face the Braves in the NLDS, and me and Chase Utley were watching Jonny Venters
throw, and he was just getting chase and living off chase. And Chase goes, ‘You better not swing the bat if you face this guy. He is for sure going to walk you before he throws you three strikes.’ I go up to the plate and sure enough Chase is in the little camera well at Dodger Stadium with the hitting coaches, and he’s looking at me like, ‘Four (balls) before three (strikes).’ I go up to the plate and I don’t even know why I brought a bat. First pitch strike, second pitch strike, third pitch strike. And I walked back to the dugout. I’ve never executed my plan better than that.”
Kiké Hernández pranks Ryan Madson
“For a month I had him fooled that I didn’t speak English. When we traded for him, Chase Utley came up to me and was like, ‘Hey, we got Madson. You’ve got to pretend like you don’t speak any English.’ And then he was my locker mate for a month and we did everything we could. They played videos of me talking in English on the jumbotron and he had no clue.”
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