Dodgers Interview: Kiké Hernández on Uncanny October Success

LOS ANGELES — Dodger Stadium gets the stage tonight, and Kiké Hernández arrived sounding steady, loose, and locked into the moment. He did not chase big declarations. He talked about what the club has done the last three weeks and what it needs to do for nine more innings. The message was simple: breathe, trust the plan, and play team baseball.

“I want to say it’s coincidental,” he said when asked if that near no-hitter in Baltimore became a turning point. “I think a key for us has been starting pitching has been unreal. And then the last couple weeks I feel like our offense has come together as a group. We’re operating, you know, firing on all cylinders as far as being one unit instead of nine different hitters.”

The mental work matters to him, especially in October. “I don’t necessarily visualize the outcome,” Hernández said. “I just put myself in a position of success so I go into the day feeling good. It’s easy to get those anxious nerves during playoff games. If you visualize yourself having success over and over again it helps calm a little bit of the fear of failure. They have gone according to the way I’ve seen it as far as winning the games. Maybe that way. I don’t think anybody had it scripted the way the last two games went, but I’m really glad we’ve won both.”

On the question that has followed this team from last fall to this one, he kept it straightforward. “We’ve scored more runs. We’ve gotten the timely hit,” he said. “Last year the bye week happened and we got off to a rough Game 1, and it felt like we weren’t able to regain momentum because of that awkward day off after Game 1 like we had this year. This year we had to play through the finish line and I think that helped us. We got to play the Wild Card round. It didn’t allow us to check out or relax. We had to stay locked in, we took care of them in two games, and we had success as a group. We didn’t get too many days off going into Philly. It was just a matter of staying patient and understanding who we are and knowing it’s a matter of time.”

What does one-unit offense look like? He went granular. “It’s doing the little things,” Hernández said. “Whether it’s advancing a runner or working a pitch count. Something as simple as working a pitch count when the guy ahead of you got out early, that is a team at bat. When you’re taking team at bats for nine guys, good results tend to happen. Even when things are not going right, you’re playing the game the right way and the game tends to reward you. Freddy taking second on his base hit that he turned into a double. Will Smith just being ready with two outs, not trying to do too much, trying to get a base hit. That ball that I hit really far to shortstop, just putting the ball in play. When we’re not clicking as a group we’re not moving runners over, we’re having empty quick innings, we’re not putting the ball in play when we have to. Right now it’s one pitch at a time and doing everything to add a point to the scoreboard.”

The tone is set by the whole room. “It’s nice when Sho hits a homer to lead off the game,” he said, smiling. “But I think it’s an advantage to have such a veteran group. We’re pretty salty when it comes to our position players. You watch the game, you pay attention, and it comes with experience. If we’re not doing it, we’ve got nine guys who can use our voice. It only takes one guy to realize it. When our teammates talk, we listen. We’ve played in a lot of big games together. We rely on each other big time at any point of the game.”

Momentum and the closeout chance sat front and center. “I think it’s big,” Hernández said. “It’s way better to be up 2–0 than down 0–2 or tied 1–1. We understand the team on the other side. Every pitch tonight they’re playing like there’s no tomorrow because there’s literally no tomorrow for them. For us it’s about coming out the same way. That’s a team we don’t want to let get hot. We want to set the tone early, try to punch first, and keep adding on so we bury them.”

He circled back to the must-win mindset. “The quick answer is if we win they go home and we move on,” he said. “But the way our mentality is, every game in the playoffs is a must-win game. You’re putting yourself in a hole if you don’t. A team that dangerous, you don’t want to give them any signs of life and any signs of hope. Tonight’s huge for both teams.”

And he closed with confidence in the man who takes the ball next. “With Yoshinobu on the mound, we feel really good about our chances,” Hernández said. “A lot of times the last two years when there’s been a chance to clinch, it’s been him on the mound. Hopefully he can get some quick outs in the first inning and then we can get up early and keep adding on. We’re going one pitch at a time, and you never know in the playoffs which pitch is going to win you a game.”

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