Every year, teams will experience the highs and lows of a season as they surge ahead or go through slumps. The Dodgers have had their fair share, as they went into the season with a mix of veteran and rookie players.
Many did not have high hopes for how the run towards the postseason this year would turn out for the Boys in Blue. Yet despite some low expectations, Los Angeles has managed to maintain their first-place lead in the NL West division after overtaking the Diamondbacks earlier in the season.
Since the All-Star Break, the team has been firing on all cylinders. And even though the pickings were slim at the trade deadline, some were still disappointed that the Front Office did not acquire any of the so-called bigger names to bolster the team.
Fortunately, many (most) of the trade pieces that Dodgers President of Baseball Operations Andrew Friedman picked up prior to and since the July 31 (August 1 this year) MLB trade deadline have already started to pay dividends. Among them is soon-to-be (on August 24) 32-year-old/10-year MLB veteran infielder/outfielder (Enrique) Kiké Hernández, who Friedman re-acquired from the Boston Red Sox on July 25 in exchange for 26-year-old minor league right-handed reliever Justin Hagenman and 25-year-old highly-touted minor league right-handed starter Nick Robertson.
In his three seasons with Boston, Hernández slashed a rather pedestrian .234/.308/.382/.690, with 32 home runs and 136 RBI. And though he drew 117 walks in his 3,377 plate appearance while wearing red, he struck out 249 times.
At the time of his trade back to the Dodgers, Kiké was hitting a paltry .222, with six home runs and 31 RBI. However, since rejoining the team that he very much wanted to rejoin, he is 7-for 54 (.315), with one home run and eight RBI, causing those who were initially less-than-thrilled with his re-signing to admit that he has been raking since returning to the West Coast. He collected that first home run as a returning Dodger during last week’s series win over the San Diego Padres at Petco Park.
“He always is going to want for more and I have no problem with that,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said of Hernández before Sunday’s game. “I do think that coming back here under these circumstances there is complete acceptance and understanding of whatever is asked of him, where maybe the first go around it wasn’t always the case.”
In recent weeks, Hernández has played around the diamond and in the outfield in his now signature bright lime green Adidas cleats. He even had a handful of starts at third base, where he hasn’t played since 2019. When Roberts spoke to media before the matchup, he explained his stance on how Hernández has matured since his return.
“You know I think that it sort of goes with experiences,” Doc elaborated. “He’s experienced a lot since he’s left here; some good, some potentially, some not so good. And so I do think that him coming back here a second time, there’s a lot of gratitude and realizing how good it is to play in a Dodger uniform in any capacity. And so I think that it’s showing the benefits of it and I think that he’s got complete clarity and joy to be back here.”
Despite that maturity, Kiké brings his own brand of fun to the clubhouse environment. He has joined forces with the team’s unofficial prankster, shortstop Miguel Rojas. The pair even have matching green cleats now. Hernández kidded that Rojas’ batting has improved since he started wearing his new shoes.
“These are just one of the special cleats that Adidas made me and he asked for a pair so that when we plays short and second,” said Hernández. “He got (them) ahead of time and wore them a couple of nights ago, got a hit. He wore a pair in Arizona that I gave him, got a hit, and today he had a really good offensive day and I think that he rakes in my shoes.”
Rojas has been improving in his own right. Initially, it was planned that he would be the backup shortstop until Gavin Lux got injured in Spring Training. Since then, Rojas has stepped into a mix of a more regular role with perennial All-Star infielder/outfielder Mookie Betts, and now recent trade acquisition shortstop Amed Rosario spelling him.
The seasoned shortstop was responsible for driving in four runs in the Dodgers 8-3 win over Colorado at Dodger Stadium on Sunday afternoon to complete a four-game sweep of the NL West last place Rockies.
Third baseman Max Muncy scored on Rojas’ hit that fell under a unique in-field fly rule regardless of being dropped in the sun in the bottom of the second inning. He crushed his second home run of the season in the bottom of the fourth for another run, and the last two runs came on two sacrifice flies to center field in the sixth and eighth innings, respectively.
“I thought today he was in the zone, aggressive in the zone,” Roberts said of Rojas. “Good at-bat to then finish it on a 3-2 pitch with a homer. And then two great situational at-bats. He played a heck of a ballgame.”
Maybe there is some truth to the magic in those neon green shoes Miguel Rojas and Kiké Hernández are sporting.
In his 50 at-bats, Hernández has scored six runs off 16 hits, doubled seven times in those plate appearances, and assisted with eight RBIs. Not bad for just getting started. Roberts is happy with the results but did say, if nothing else, that Hernández should know better than to bash forearms and potentially injure any of his current teammates – again – while celebrating.
“I think they were together a little bit here,” Roberts expanded on his thoughts about the playful infielders. “I think they did cross paths in Miami. They’ve been around for quite some time. It’s the native tongue. A lot of respect and Miguel is just great with everybody. But I do think that you get two premium defenders who really are very high IQ baseball guys. And so, just a kinship was easily forged. I don’t know, I’m guessing Kiké was responsible for the shoes, so no surprise there.”
“I’ve learned to let guys be themselves, let them have fun as long as they play within the constructs of what we believe in,” Doc continued. “And those guys are at the top of the list.”
The cohesion across the team has definitely been successful.
Keep up the great work, Dodgers!