{"id":96643,"date":"2025-09-04T07:32:31","date_gmt":"2025-09-04T07:32:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=96643"},"modified":"2025-09-04T07:32:31","modified_gmt":"2025-09-04T07:32:31","slug":"dodgers-hope-from-frustration-to-redemption-the-dodgers-believe-teoscar-hernandez-is-about-to-bring-the-edge-and-the-power-that-could-rewrite-the-entire-seasons-story","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=96643","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers Hope!! From frustration to redemption the Dodgers believe Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez is about to bring the edge and the power that could rewrite the entire season\u2019s story"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\u2018Want to see that edge.\u2019 How Dodgers hope Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez turns around disappointing season<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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\"Dodgers'<\/picture><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The Dodgers\u2019 Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez singles off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Bubba Chandler, driving in a run, during the third inning of Tuesday\u2019s game.<\/div>\n
(Gene J. Puskar \/ Associated Press)<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Last year, in many ways,\u00a0Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez\u00a0was the heart and soul of the\u00a0Dodgers. Not their best player. Nor their biggest star. But someone who provided effervescent vibes in the clubhouse, veteran leadership in the dugout and clutch hits in several of the season\u2019s biggest moments.<\/p>\n

\u201cTeo is a guy that we counted on a lot last year,\u201d manager\u00a0Dave Roberts\u00a0said. \u201cHe\u2019s a guy that I really admire, because he can balance the fun part of baseball but also have that edge.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This year, however, frustration has doused much of the fun. Struggles have dulled his usual edge.<\/p>\n

Between injuries, slumps, defensive miscues and mechanical swing flaws, Hern\u00e1ndez has endured one of his worst career seasons. He is batting just .247, his lowest since 2019. He has a .734 OPS, the lowest of his career and just a smidge above league-average. His limited range in right field has led to a flurry of dropped balls and some of the poorest defensive metrics of any big leaguer at the position. And going back to the last week of June, no other Dodger player (not even\u00a0Michael Conforto) has been worth fewer wins above replacement than Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s negative-0.5 mark, according to Fangraphs.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, not being the same as last year is a little frustrating,\u201d Hern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cI don\u2019t want to be like that. I want to be better than last year. But it\u2019s baseball. It\u2019s life. You just have to keep working, keep trusting in yourself and the things that you can do to help the team.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Last weekend, however, Roberts had a different idea. In the midst of Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s latest cold spell, the outfielder was unexpectedly benched for Sunday\u2019s series finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s an every-day guy,\u201d Roberts said that day. \u201cBut I do think that where we\u2019re at, you\u2019ve got to perform, too, to warrant being out there every single day.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

The move wasn\u2019t punitive, with Roberts also accounting for Monday\u2019s off day in hopes \u201ca two-day reset could help\u201d the\u00a0two-time All-Star.<\/p>\n

But still, with the stretch run of the season nearing, the manager was dropping a hint to his star slugger as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think we\u2019ve lost a little bit of that edge over the last couple months,\u201d Roberts said Tuesday of Hern\u00e1ndez, having had \u201cnumerous conversations\u201d to communicate the same message with him personally.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, I want to see that edge, that fight, that fire, and I\u2019ll bet on any result. I just want to see that. We\u2019re past the mechanical part of [his struggles with his swing]. Let\u2019s just get into the fight. I\u2019ve seen it. And I believe that\u2019s what\u2019s to come in the next month and beyond.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

This is not the position the Dodgers expected to be in when they re-signed Hern\u00e1ndez to a\u00a0three-year, $66 million contract\u00a0this offseason \u2014 a move Roberts described as a \u201cno-brainer\u201d at the time after pushing for the front office to bring the free-agent back to Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

He trusted Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s bat, which mashed 33 home runs and 99 RBIs in his debut Dodgers season in 2024. He appreciated Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s heartbeat, and how he delivered one of the season\u2019s biggest swings in\u00a0the fifth inning of Game 5\u00a0of the\u00a0World Series.<\/p>\n

In bringing Hern\u00e1ndez back, the Dodgers hoped that his mere presence would elevate the rest of the roster for this year\u2019s championship defense.<\/p>\n

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\u201cHe knows his value for our ballclub,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cHe knows my expectations of him individually.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Only, to this point, Hern\u00e1ndez has struggled to replicate that same intangible magic.<\/p>\n

After a blistering start to the season (.315 average, nine home runs, and an MLB-most 34 RBIs through his first 33 games), the outfielder suffered a groin\/adductor strain while stretching for a line drive in Miami, landing him on the injured list for two weeks. When he returned, he looked far from 100%, struggling to rediscover his swing or cover much ground in right. Before long, a slump took hold. And as it stretched on through the summer \u2014 compounded by foot contusion on a foul ball he suffered in July \u2014 frustration began to mount.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s tough when you feel good and then something happens and you have to miss \u2026 whatever the amount of games might be,\u201d Hern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cIt was one of those for me this year. I got injured, then I came back. I fouled it off my foot and then missed games [again].\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

He later added<\/strong>: \u201cFor me, being hurt is more frustrating than having a bad year. I\u2019d rather be on the field having a bad year, than not being on the field and just fighting back and forth.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Staying on the field, of course, hasn\u2019t alleviated Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s problems. After the All-Star break, he said his body finally started feeling better. On Tuesday, he proclaimed his groin and foot to be back to full health.<\/p>\n

And yet, over his previous eight games, he was just three for 27 leading up to Sunday\u2019s removal from the lineup. Worse than that, he had fallen back into a habit of chasing too much, leading to non-competitive at-bats at a time Roberts had been trying to emphasize the opposite.<\/p>\n

\u201c[I want to see] Teo getting back to having that edge,\u201d<\/em> Roberts reiterated.<\/p>\n

In Hern\u00e1ndez\u2019s return to the lineup Tuesday,\u00a0some positive signs\u00a0finally presented themselves. He fought off a pair of two-strike pitches before lining a second-inning single. He did the same thing in the third inning to drive in a run. Defensively, there was another awkward moment, when Hern\u00e1ndez failed to make a sliding catch on a shallow fly ball down the right-field line in the Pittsburgh Pirates\u2019 four-run first inning. But even on that play, Roberts argued postgame, Hern\u00e1ndez got a good jump and covered a lot of ground \u2014 breaking into the kind of hard-charging sprint that hadn\u2019t always been there earlier this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I see a good jump getting off the ball, good effort, I\u2019ve got no problem with it,\u201d Roberts said.<\/p>\n

Really, that\u2019s all Roberts is hoping for from Hern\u00e1ndez moving forward now.<\/p>\n

To have the kind of consistent intensity level that has wavered at times this season. To rekindle that balance of having fun and playing with an edge down the stretch run of the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to see that,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cI have no doubt.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cYou just leave everything on the field,\u201d Hern\u00e1ndez echoed. \u201cI\u2019m going to keep working, keep doing my routine, keep doing the stuff that I normally do to get back on track. And hopefully I get the results that I want to help the team.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

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\u2018Want to see that edge.\u2019 How Dodgers hope Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez turns around disappointing season The Dodgers\u2019 Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez singles off Pittsburgh Pirates pitcher Bubba Chandler, driving in… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":96659,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-96643","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mlb"],"yoast_head":"\nDodgers Hope!! 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