The Dodgers Get their Heart and Soul Back

If you think that Kike Hernandez is “just another poor hitting utility player” you may suffer from the same malady Kike did the first half of last season: LACK OF VISION.

Kike hit .191 in the first half of 2024, and during that time, he had a conversation with Martin Maldonado. “He told me that he and a couple of his teammates needed glasses, and they didn’t really know through the spring training test,” Hernández said. The comment set off a light bulb for Hernández, who struggled mightily during the first half of the season while struggling to distinguish breaking balls out of pitchers’ hands.

“They went through a more thorough test to learn they needed glasses,” Hernández said, referring back to his discussion with Maldonado. “So I was like, ‘All right, I’m gonna try it out.’” Hernández then learned his right eye had astigmatism, a condition caused by imperfections in the curvature of the eye that can result in blurred vision. I know, I have the same thing – I wore contacts until age 67 to correct it.

After getting glasses, Kike’s depth perception was off. If you have ever worn glasses and had to adjust to them, it does throw your depth perception off, but he started coming around. Look at the turn-around:

• Pre-All-Star Game: .191 BA/5 HR/15 RBI/.557 OPS
• Post-All-Star Game: .274 BA/7 HR/27 RBI/.765 OPS

Kike went from being an afterthought with the bat to being a “force.” I like Chris Taylor as well, but he is just a good dude who can play a lot of positions… and play them well. Kike can do that too, but Kike’s intangibles are “off the charts.” I believe the Dodgers are trying to figure out how to get rid of CT3. CT3 is loved by his teammates. Kike is “BELOVED!” Beloved” means to have a stronger sense of adoration and cherishment for someone or something than “loved.” “Beloved” can also be used as a noun to describe a person who is greatly loved. Kike is beloved, and he is also a master motivator of his teammates. The main difference between beloved and loved is that the adjective beloved is more intense than the adjective loved and is used to describe a more intense love.

Here’s the long and short of it: The Dodgers Will Win More Games With Kike Hernandez Than They Will Without Him. This likely spells the end for CT3… especially if James Outman or Andy Pages has a “break out Spring.”

The Dodgers offseason is almost complete… as soon as they re-sign one Clayton Kershaw. Maybe today!

Kiké Hernández had one of the biggest home runs of the entire 2024 season for the Dodgers.

His postseason play was one of the key reasons the Dodgers even made it to the World Series.

He needed to be brought back, and the Dodgers’ offseason is now A++

pic.twitter.com/aG5HY08hZY

— Noah Camras (@noahcamras) February 9, 2025

This offseason, the Dodgers had the perfect combination of not only adding the best talent on the open market but also re-signing their key guys:

– Roki Sasaki
– Blake Snell
– Tanner Scott
– Kirby Yates
– Blake Treinen
– Tommy Edman
– Teoscar Hernández
– Kiké Hernández

SHEESH! pic.twitter.com/yBkumsuE1s

— Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) February 9, 2025