Kiké Hernández was again one of the panelists for the alternate “Peloteros” broadcast of the National League Championship Series on truTV.
Former Los Angeles Dodgers reporter Alanna Rizzo hosted the broadcast which had a panel that included Pedro Martínez, Albert Pujols, Yonder Alonso and Néstor Cortés in addition to Hernández. The group offered wisdom and discussed their experiences during Game 2, which saw the Philadelphia Phillies defeat the Arizona Diamondbacks in sound fashion.
Like during the truTV alternate broadcast for Game 1 of the NLCS, Hernández shared a mixture of analysis, what the Los Angeles Dodgers struggled with against the Diamondbacks, and more.
Best Kiké Hernández quotes
Merrill Kelly comments about WBC atmosphere compared to expectations at Citizens Bank Park
“Well, I think you look at what Orlando Arcia did to Bryce Harper, and it’s different because Arcia only gets booed when he has to go hit. Merrill Kelly has the ball every time he’s on the mound, so I think he’s going to get a little dose of that. Going into a crowd like Philadelphia, I think it’s the wrong place to do it.”
Corbin Carroll didn’t steal a base in Game 1
“I think it’s tough. You can’t just steal because you’re fast. You have to keep in mind how quick the pitcher is, especially with a guy like J.T. Realmuto behind the plate, who can really shut the running game down. For me, the Arizona Diamondbacks, their athleticism is more than stealing bases. It’s about turning a single to a double, taking the extra base, first to third, if you lob a ball into the cutoff man and the runner is able to take the extra 90 feet. I think that’s the difference-maker for them, especially if they’re slugging.”
Diamondbacks hitters struggling
“To me, the difference-maker with (Zack) Wheeler was the sinker. He had them on their heels with the sinker, because it felt like every time they tried to ambush him, he would throw the sinker in off the plate, and they would swing and it or foul it off. That opens up the outer half of the plate with the four-seamer and his new sweeper. It just didn’t seem like they knew what they were looking for at the plate.”
Bryson Stott’s breakout season
“Last year, in 2022 Spring Training, my former teammate and Nestor’s teammate at the time, Marwin Gonzalez, text me and goes, ‘Kiké, remember this name: Bryson Stott.’ It’s 2022, we had the lockout, so everybody in Florida is playing teams that are close to each other. I guess the [Yankees] were playing the Phillies a lot in Spring Training, so he got to see a lot of Bryson Stott. He was like, ‘This kid is the real deal.’”
Albert Pujols praised Kiké Hernández for playing multiple positions so well
“It’s an honor for you to say that. The way I started playing multiple positions was because I felt like my path to the big leagues was blocked. I was a second baseman in the Astros’ system, and they had a pretty good second baseman, if not the best second baseman in the game, in Jose Altuve. I was begging the outfield coordinator. He came into town one day and I was like, ‘Bro, throw me out there. I guarantee you I can play better outfield than those guys we’re throwing out there.’ It took like four or five days to persuade him to let me play outfield.
“They let me play left field one day and the first ball they hit to me, he’s in the dugout and I’m dying laughing because after I catch it, I look in, and he’s cussing me out. Because first fly ball hit to me, he thinks I can’t play it, and I catch down here (to his side). I wanted to do whatever it took for me to get to the big leagues. The way I saw it was, if I can play everywhere on the field, that’s going to open so many doors for me. At the time I was thinking about just getting to the big leagues. And look at how my career turned out. Been able to play for some really good teams just because I’ve been so versatile.”
“I was still in Low-A when this happened, and I kept playing all second base through High-A and Double-A. It wasn’t until I got to Triple-A and my bat was really developing – I hit like .340 that year – that I was playing literally a different position every day.”
Lineup construction, analytics with decisions, splitting up handedness, etc.
“I think a lot of lineups are doing that now, especially with the three-batter minimum. It’s really hard to match up if you’re the opposing manager and you’ve got righty, lefty, righty, lefty, righty, lefty. You can’t set up your lefty specialist to come in and face two lefties in a row because they’re split up.
“We talk about (Alec) Bohm not being a big name, but he drove in 97 runs. He’s a run producer, regardless of having bigger names at the bottom of the lineup. When you have a guy like Nick Castellanos hitting seventh, it’s all about finding length with a lineup. It makes that lineup very dangerous and it has a lot of length.”
Mentioned during Game 1 that Nick Castellanos stands far back from plate
“Right now he’s just very comfortable. He’s not as far off the plate tonight. To Yonder’s point earlier, first pitch was up and in, and made him move his feet. A guy that is so locked in, you want to get him conscious.”
Christian Walker stands far off the plate
“Yeah, he does, but he can cover the outer half and inner half. Christian Walker has turned into one of the best power hitters.”
Kiké Hernández’s reaction to Bryce Harper making diving stop at first base
“He’s been playing that position for so long.”
Kyle Schwarber home runs in back-to-back NLCS games
“He’s a guy since his rookie year has been showing up when it matters the most. He’s the only guy in MLB history to homer in every round of postseason baseball.”
What do you remember from 2021 Red Sox team (tied with 2004 Astros most home runs through first eight games of single postseason with 20)
“I remember a lot of high-fives. We were locked in. We were locked in all the way back to the last two or three games of the season. Our bats got cold at the wrong time, but for a while there we were a dangerous team and I’m sure that nobody wanted to play us that postseason. We felt at the time that we were going to win it all. We didn’t care who was playing on the other side in the NLCS. Whether it was the Dodgers or the Braves, we didn’t care. We thought we were the team to beat. Obviously that didn’t happen, but we were locked in.”
Don’t you always need to feel like you’re unbeatable
“Yeah, that’s why the Diamondbacks are in the position that they’re in right now. They feel that way. They feel like nobody can beat them. That’s why they came back twice on the road against the Brewers and it’s why they did what they did to us.”
Emotions in dugout, different personalities coming together
“Honestly, to me, watching dugout reactions after a home run tells me a lot. I’m a big believer in dugout energy. The dugout energy tells you a lot about team chemistry, I think. This is a lineup with a lot of boppers and you’re expected to outslug your competition or whatever. For the most part, most of those teams, somebody hits a homer and the camera pans to the dugout, and there’s one or two guys that are super excited and then the rest of them are (makes golf clapping motion).
“These guys (Phillies), they hit a homer and they’re all on the top rail enjoying that homer like they’re the ones that hit it. That’s what you need to go on a special run in the postseason. I think they have that. They love playing with each other and love competing together. They have a really talented roster but it seems like they gel so good too.”
Kiké Hernández details playing winter ball
“It’s a short season. You’ve got to perform or you’re not going to keep getting chances. For me, I was fortunate to play from my first year of pro ball all the way to my third year in the big leagues. I got experiences that I wouldn’t go through in the Minor Leagues, veterans who have been in the big leagues for years and are toward the end of their careers.
“There are just certain situations and experiences that you go through in winter ball that make you a better player and mature as a player so much quicker.”
Changing approach when trailing and facing an ace that is pitching well
“It’s so hard to outslug the opponent throughout the entire postseason. At some point you need to switch gears into a single them to death mentality, especially when you’re facing an ace. They’re not making mistakes, so you’ve just got to shoot the ball the other way. Get one here and there, and hopefully you get the big hit at some point.”
Kiké Hernández pranked Triple-A manager
“Long story short, I’m in Triple-A, manager missed the first couple months of the season and comes back, greets us after game. He goes, ‘Hey, you Puerto Rican! You’re a pretty good player.’ There was a word that starts with an ‘F’ before Puerto Rican, and he’s like, ‘How’s your English?’ I was like, you’re done. Right away I was like, ‘English class good. English class very good.’ And for a whole month I pretended like I didn’t speak any English to my manager. Somehow he didn’t realize it, even when I was playing infield and going to the mound to talk to American pitchers.
“But that’s just how it went. And then after a game, he was cussing us out because we were playing really, really bad. Position players were in his office, he’s wearing us out, and after like 10 minutes of yelling at us, I was like this is the perfect time to break it out because this meeting needs to end. He was like, ‘What?! What could you f’ing want right now?’ I was like, ‘Uh, uh, yes, thank you. I just wanted to let you know I speak perfect English and I’ve been f’ing with you this entire time.’ He was stunned. He was so embarrassed. He said he knew it the whole time, but he would bring a translator in to talk to me.
“Gregorio Petit was my teammate, veteran guy at the time. I was like 22 years old and Petit was in his 30s. He would have Petit come into the office to translate. Petit would tell me in Spanish that I needed to stop because he wasn’t as good at keeping a straight face.”
Kiké Hernández scouts Joe Mantiply
“I got two at-bats against him in the NLDS and I faced him a couple times in the season. He likes to get ahead against righties with the fastball. Because of sinker and delivery, he’s a big crossfire guy with a long, not sidearm, but low three-quarters. And he’s got that crossfire, which makes you think the ball is going to keep coming into you. It just holds its plane and he gets a free strike one.
“And then after that he wants to get you to expand on that changeup. For me, I always wanted the ball up and in. He would throw me that pitch and it would freeze me because of the angle and how much that ball feels like it’s going to come into your batter’s box. But it just holds plane and it’s the crossfire. He steps toward first base and the ball comes, he makes you think with the angle it’s going to come into the batter’s box. It just holds it’s plane and it’s over the plate.”
Kiké Hernández responds to Pedro Martinez calling him a human freak and really athletic, in reference to the Trea Turner slide
“I try to do that all the time but I’m not moving remotely close to how fast he’s moving. So I just slide and stay there. He slides for 20 feet, and I slide for like five.”
Kiké Hernández recalls Chase Utley slide
“For the playoffs, it was 2015 in Game 2 of the NLDS. That was my first postseason game. I wasn’t in the lineup Game 1 but I was in the lineup for Game 2 against (Noah) Syndergaard. I remember my first at-bat of the playoffs, I got a hit and it felt like I hit a grand slam. It was a bases-empty base hit. Down the road in that game, I led off the seventh with a walk. Huge walk, big at-bat, and then Davey Lopes was yelling at me at first base, ‘Steal! Steal! You’ve got to go Steal!’
“And I steal second to put the tying run on second base, and Chase Utley gets a base hit but I only get to third. Howie (Kendrick) comes up and they bring in Bartolo (Colon), and the infamous Chase Utley play. Game on the line, tying run at third base, I learned so much from both sides that you’ve got to do whatever it takes in a playoff game to win.
“From Chase breaking up the double play, and also I learned from (Rubén) Tejada’s mistake of trying to turn that double play. Unfortunate play. Game 2 of the NLDS, we’re down 0-1, Dodger Stadium rocking and scoring that tying run in the seventh inning was incredible.”
Rich Hill has always said he doesn’t have to rise to the occasion, the occasion rises to him
“Richie might say that to the media, but he also said in the locker room, ‘Big time players come up big in big-time occasions.’ One of my favorite (teammates) ever. One of my favorites ever. D. Mountain.”
Keeping focused even with big lead
“The importance of keep playing, all it takes is throwing away one at-bat for you to absolutely lose it. Bad habits can creep in so fast. If you give away one at-bat, things can go sideways. You’ve got to keep competing, regardless of the score.”
Kiké Hernández picks most difficult stadium to play in
“I honestly don’t know. I’ve played in a lot of big games in a lot of really loud stadiums. Fenway can be tough as an opponent. I never played in old Yankee Stadium. The new Yankee Stadium opened up the year that I got drafted.”
Kiké Hernández recalls pitching appearance
“I got to pitch once. It did not go well. I gave up a walk-off homer, but pitching from the mound, the mound looks so much closer to the plate than it does from the plate to the mound. I felt like I was going to hit the guy with my hand on his helmet. That’s how close I felt.”
Thoughts on Orion Kerkering
“Three innings in the big leagues, and he got the call to be on the roster. I’m in L.A., watching Phillies-Braves, and this dude is pitching the eighth inning of a really big situation, facing the heart of the lineup. I was like, ‘I’ve never heard of this kid,’ but he is absolutely disgusting.”
“Sweeper” trend
“I used to call it a frisbee. Back before it was a sweeper. The first time I ever heard the term sweeper, was reading an article in The Athletic, about the Yankees, because I had to face them a lot. And they were calling it the ‘whirly.’ That was the first time I was like, ‘Oh, it’s actually a different cutter.’ I had no idea. Out of the hand some of them look like two-seam fastballs, just based off the way they spin. And then some of them start behind you if it’s the same-side thrower, and somehow they end up in the other batter’s box. I don’t understand it.”
Veteran players helped with first postseason experience
“I’m a guy with so much energy, obviously everybody knows that. But for me, Jimmy Rollins was such a calming presence in my first postseason in 2015. Jimmy was the man. He used to help me so much.”
Diamondbacks look like different team in NLCS than what Dodgers saw
“Yeah. To me, what stood out so much in the series against us, I don’t know if it has to do the familiarity they had with our pitchers because of facing us so much, but one through nine they had a very similar approach. It was like a lineup approach throughout. What stood out to me with (Zack) Wheeler and (Aaron) Nola, it seemed like they were in between the whole time against both pitchers. That’s been the biggest difference, because it’s allowed the Phillies to open up games.”
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