Los Angeles Dodgers veteran Kiké Hernández, in yet another stroke of postseason magic, delivered when the team needed him the most.
Kike Hernandez’s moment
After the Dodgers struggled offensively in Game 2, and with a lefty on the mound — an all-world pitcher nonetheless, like Chris Sale — manager Dave Roberts turned to Hernandez to start in Game 3 of the NLDS.
Despite not featuring much during the regular season and producing little when he did, Hernandez hit a two-run home run against Sale.
It opened the scoring for the Dodgers and gave Yoshinobu Yamamoto a cushion. Those two runs would have been enough, with Freddie Freeman’s solo shot serving as insurance.
For Hernandez to deliver once again, now 35 years old, it really does show that there is something about high-stakes moments that bring out the best in Hernandez.
“He’s a big-time player,” Roberts said. “We needed a little bit of that Kiké dust. He’s always prepared and he loves moments like this. … Having him in the lineup in the postseason just adds that extra sort of urgency, that kind of grit that you need.”
How Kike Hernandez always delivers in the postseason
Freeman, who has seen and done a lot in baseball, celebrated how ready Hernandez stays for these kinds of moments.
“I wish there was a recipe for that so we can all take it from him,” Freeman said.
“He’s incredible. He shows up when you need him. He hasn’t had a start in a while, and he goes out there and does what he did. … He’s a Swiss Army knife, and he’s ready to go at all times.”
Hernandez’s home run was the 17th of his postseason career. In fact, he is now the only player in MLB history to have at least 10.0% of his career homers come in the postseason, with at least 100 career home runs.
“That’s probably something that, once I’m done playing, I’m going to look back and be really proud of my career because of how I find myself each and every year in October,” he said.
Until he is done, the Dodgers may need to count on Hernandez one more time, and he will keep himself ready.
