GLENDALE, Ariz. — Healthy for the first time since late in the 2021 season, Kiké Hernandez has grand plans for what is technically his third stint with the Dodgers.
Signed earlier this week to a one-year, $4 million free-agent deal, the Dodgers intend to give the super-utility man much of his early chances in center field against left-handed pitching, with his infield skills expected to be put to use as well.
Hernandez will even serve as the Dodgers’ backup first baseman, but with All-Star Freddie Freeman there, those opportunities figure to be rare.
“I know what I bring to the table and it’s kind of been the same role for years now,” Hernandez said Thursday. “I might be penciled in against lefties to start games, but I also have to be ready to play any other position at any point of the game. It’s kind of what I’ve been doing for a long time. I’m expecting to bring the same thing to the table this year.”
The fan favorite in Los Angeles was not quite embraced the same way when he was a member of the Boston Red Sox from 2021 into last season. But when he was traded back to the Dodgers in July, the old love was there waiting for him.
“The reception of the fans, they gave me a standing ovation, and I did not imagine that (energy) was gonna last like around a month,” Hernandez said. “I kind of got a little bit embarrassed every time I would take the field because they were giving me a standing ovation. And I was like, ‘Oh man alright guys, I don’t want have (all that) attention right now.’”
Calling it “special,” that fan attention helped Hernandez to rebound in 2023 with five home runs and 30 RBIs in 54 games with the Dodgers. In 86 games with the Red Sox to start the season, he had six home runs and 31 RBIs.
But Hernandez was also playing with a nagging abdominal injury that first surfaced late in his first season in Boston. It wasn’t until this past offseason that the issue was rectified with surgery for a double…
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