Teoscar Hernández has been one of the brightest stars for the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2024, and that was no different when he was placed on one of MLB’s biggest stages.
Hernández participated in the 2024 MLB Home Run Derby and went on to win the event, making him the first Dodgers player to ever achieve that illustrious honor. “It feels great, just amazing,” Hernández said after winning.”
The 31-year-old was selected for the Home Run Derby for the first time in his career after publicly lobbying for a spot. On a stage filled with some of the top young stars around the league, Hernández was not considered a favorite to win.
But despite having some of the odds stacked against him, Hernández remained confident and determined to win.
“If I have to bet, it doesn’t matter who I’m going against,” Hernández said. “I’m going to bet on myself. People maybe underestimate me. And you can see it at the end when Witt was hitting all those homers, everybody was cheering for him. But I’m here and I outlasted all those guys over there.”
Hernández hit 19 home runs in the first round, finishing as the No. 4 seed and advancing to face Alec Bohm in the semi-finals matchup.
In the second round, Hernández blasted 14 home runs before Bohm tied his mark, sending them to a swing off. After hitting two more before his three outs, Hernández advanced to the finals with 16 homers compared to Bohm’s 15.
That put him in a matchup against Bobby Witt Jr., who many picked to win the event.
“This guy, he believed in himself, I believed in him,” Hernández’s pitcher of choice and Dodgers third base coach Dino Ebel said.
“He just showed it to the world tonight that when it counted, he showed up. So proud of him and so happy for the Dodgers organization for the first one, because there’s been some heavy hitters in this organization. But special moment. I’m still ecstatic.”
Hernández started it off with 14 home runs, which included one in his bonus round.
Witt tied Hernández in his two minutes of time, which gave him a great chance to win in the bonus round. However, Witt was unable to hit one more, with his final swing dying at the warning track and hitting off the wall.
“Oh man, I was nervous,” Hernández said of watching Witt. “When he still had two outs and one homer to tie me, and then the last shot he got, that was a little too close. But thank God it didn’t go out. So super happy.”
When the ball dropped and Hernández officially became the winner, he threw his arms in the air and let out a big smile, a signature of his while on the baseball field, before giving a hug to his friends and family who were in attendance.
He had once again proven he’s built for the biggest moments.
Shohei Ohtani gave advice to Teoscar Hernández
Although Shohei Ohtani did not participate this year, he still ended up making an affect on the outcome of the derby, giving some advice to his teammate and friend.
“He said to hit the ball to left-center, to not pull it,” Hernández recalled. “I had a better chance because of the way my swing is. It’s far, but he said, ‘it’s better for you.'”
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