The Dodgers signed Teoscar Hernandez
this winter to fulfill two roles: hit lefties, and drive in runs. He’s put up a .913 OPS against lefties entering Sunday, and he’s now tied for third in the majors in RBIs with 33 after slugging a game-sealing grand slam in Saturday’s win. It is hard to argue against his value to this point.
“I think that obviously the opportunities have to present themselves, but you still have to be able to drive in a run and Teoscar, his entire career, has driven in runs and values the runs batted in,” Roberts said.
This is what Hernández envisioned, too.
“When I signed here, I knew this was gonna happen,” Hernández said. “You have Mookie (Betts), Freddie (Freeman), Ohtani, Will (Smith) and (Max) Muncy, those guys take a lot of walks. I knew I was going to hit behind them and I was going to have a lot of opportunities with men in scoring position or men on base. In my mind, I just try not to do too much, not overthink my swing or anything like that. Just get a good pitch to hit and put it in play.”
The Dodgers should be pleased with their production at Hernandez’s spot, as they should be with Muncy (.848 OPS) often in front of him. A contract extension feels like something that makes sense for both parties — if Hernández isn’t already boosting his value out of reach.