Kiké Hernández

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Kike Hernandez.jpg

Note: This page is for OF/IF Enrique "Kiké" Hernandez; for the player in the Cuban League in the 1960s, click here. For the 1946-47 Colombian team player, click here.

Enrique J. Hernandez
(Kiké)

BR page

Biographical Information[edit]

Utility player Kiké Hernandez (whose birth name is Enrique and who is still often listed under than name) made his major league debut with the Houston Astros at the beginning of July, 2014, then was traded to the Miami Marlins on the 31st of that month. Later that winter he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers, and began a long stretch with them as a multi-position backup, playing much center field but eventually finding himself more at second base as a semi-regular.

A 6th round draft choice in the 2009 amateur draft out of Puerto Rico, he was mainly an infielder in the minor leagues after making his professional debut as a 17-year-old with the GCL Astros in 2009. He hit a solid .295 in 53 games that first year, then followed that up by hitting .280 in 60 games for the Tri-City ValleyCats of the New York-Penn League in 2010. He lost half of the 2011 season to an injury, playing only 62 games for the Lexington Legends of the South Atlantic League and hitting .242; he got his first extended look in the outfield that year, playing 32 games in left field.

Enrique started the 2012 season with 100 games for the Lancaster JetHawks of the California League, where he hit .275, then was promoted to the AA Corpus Christi Hooks, playing regularly in the Texas League as a 20-year-old - one of the youngest players in the circuit. His combined batting line was .270/.314/.399 in 123 games, with second base his main position. He repeated at Corpus Christi in 2013, logging 116 games but hitting just .236 with an OBP of .297. He did show growing power, though, with 18 doubles and 13 homers. He again started the year in the Texas League in 2014, but earned a promotion after 10 games of hitting .325. He continued to hit very well with the AAA Oklahoma City 89ers, with a batting line of .337/.380/.508 in 67 games, earning him the call to the Show.

Henriquez was hitting .284 after 24 games at the time he was traded to the Marlins. He had played mainly in the outfield, with 11 starts in center and 8 in left. His first home run had come in only his second big league game, on July 2nd, a solo shot off Chris Young of the Seattle Mariners in a 5-2 loss. In the deal at the trading deadline, he accompanied P Jarred Cosart and minor leaguer Austin Wates to Miami, while three prospects - Jake Marisnick, Colin Moran and Francis Martes - headed to Houston. He played 18 games for Miami, hitting .175. After the season, on December 10th, he was involved in another multi-player trade, heading to the Los Angeles Dodgers with Ps Andrew Heaney and Chris Hatcher and utility player Austin Barnes in return for 2B Dee Gordon, P Dan Haren and IF Miguel Rojas.

Hernandez managed to win a game as a pinch-runner on June 18, 2015 by pulling a very old trick. He was on third base with two outs in the 9th inning in a scoreless game against the Texas Rangers. He tried to distract rookie reliever Keone Kela by feinting to take off for home plate, and it worked perfectly, as Kela flinched and committed a balk that was immediately called by two umpires, allowing Hernandez to score the winning run. He played for the Puerto Rican national team that finished second in the 2017 World Baseball Classic.

On July 24, 2018, he became the first position player ever to give up a walk-off home run when he was tagged by Trevor Plouffe of the Philadelphia Phillies in the first pitching appearance of his professional career. He had started the game at second base and had also played right field in the game, going 0 for 7, when manager Dave Roberts asked him to pitch with the score tied at 4 in the bottom of the 16th, the Dodgers having run out of available pitchers. He retired the first batter he faced on a fly ball, then walked the next two men he faced before Plouffe took him deep to end the game.

In 2020, Hernandez agreed with the Dodgers on a one-year, $5.9 million, contract, avoiding arbitration. On July 23rd, Hernandez drove in five runs in an Opening Day 8–1 win against the San Francisco Giants opening day having been delayed by over three months by the Coronavirus pandemic. He played in 48 games during the season, hitting .230/.270/.410 with 5 home runs and 20 RBIs. He was hitless in 5 at-bats in the Division Series against the San Diego Padres. In Game 7 of the 2020 National League Championship Series against the Atlanta Braves, Hernandez hit a game-tying solo home run in the 6th inning. With the home run, Hernandez also became the first player to hit a pinch-hit, game-tying or go-ahead home run in a winner-take-all postseason game. Overall, he had 14 at-bats in the series, with four hits, two of them home runs. In the 2020 World Series against the Tampa Bay Rays, Hernandez had two hits in 10 at-bats as the Dodgers won the championship.

On February 2, 2021, Hernández signed a two-year, $14 million contract with the Boston Red Sox. He began the season as Boston's primary center fielder, while also seeing time at second base. On May 7th, Hernández was placed on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain. On May 17th, he played for the Worcester Red Sox on a rehabilitation assignment. He hit two home runs in the game, including the first grand slam in team history. Hernández returned to Boston's lineup the following day. He was named the American League Player of the Week after hitting .400 with 9 RBIs during the week of July 19–25. He hit .250 in 134 games for Boston that year, with 20 homers and 60 RBIs and an OPS+ of 108. He also scored 84 runs, a personal best. He was outstanding in the postseason, going a combined 20 for 49 (.408) in three rounds of play, with 4 doubles, 5 homers, 9 runs scored and 9 RBIs in 11 games as the Red Sox made it to the ALCS.

Things did not go as well for Kiké or for the Sox in 2022, as he fell to .222 in 93 games, with just 6 homers and an OPS+ of 73. he started 77 games in centerfield, but the emergence of young Jarren Duran meant that his future would likely be elsewhere. In the 2023 World Baseball Classic, he hit .300/.391/.400 with five runs in five games for Puerto Rico; only Francisco Lindor scored more for the team. In 2023, his main position in the first half was shortstop, following the departure of Xander Bogaerts via free agency and an injury that kept Trevor Story from playing at all. It is fair to say that it was not his best position defensively (he was ranked as one of the worst defensive shortstops in the majors), but the Red Sox had few other options at the time. He was hitting .222 after 86 games, with 6 homers and 31 RBIs, his OPS+ having fallen all the way to 61, when he was traded back to the Dodgers on July 25th. The Dodgers had also been racked by injuries and wanted the popular Kiké to once again assume his role as a super-utility player in a platoon role, able to fil in at various spots in the line-up. To acquire him, they gave up a couple of minor leaguers, Ps Nick Robertson and Justin Hagenman. He hit .262 in 54 games the rest of the way, with 5 homers and 30 RBIs. He went 3 for 8 as the Dodgers were upset by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the Division Series.

He reprised his role with the Dodgers in 2024, batting .229 in 126 games with 12 homers and 42 RBIs while playing all over the diamond. His knack for coming through big in the postseason came through again in the decisive Game 5 of the Division Series against the San Diego Padres on October 11th. His 2nd-inning homer off Yu Darvish proved to be the difference as the Dodgers won the game, 2-0, to move on to the NLCS. He hit another big homer off Reed Garrett in the 6th inning of Game 3 of the NLCS against the New York Mets. It was his 15th postseason homer, tying him with Babe Ruth (who had hit all of his in the World Series) but more importantly, for his career, his home run rate in the postseason was twice that of the regular season. No one seemed to be able to find a reason why he was such a different player in the postseason.

His father, Enrique Hernández Sr., is a scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Notable Achievements[edit]

Further Reading[edit]

  • Jorge Castillo (Los Angeles Times): "'I needed to feel Dodger Stadium again.' Kiké Hernández was reborn in return to L.A.", Yahoo! Sports, August 24, 2023. [1]
  • Sonja Chen: "Kiké's 14th playoff HR shows why Dodgers sought reunion", mlb.com, October 12, 2024. [2]
  • Adam McCalvy: "À la Babe, Kiké blasts off with postseason HR No. 15: Hernández, joined by Muncy, climbs active playoff homer leaderboard in Game 3", mlb.com, October 17, 2024. [3]
  • Juan Toribio: "Kiké Hernández returning to Dodgers in trade with Red Sox", mlb.com, July 25, 2023. [4]

Related Sites[edit]

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