Dodgers’ Kiké Hernández back where he belongs: ‘Clown in the clubhouse’

Kiké Hernández was still in an anesthetic haze when he woke up from the elbow operation he underwent in the offseason, so forgive him if the details of this story aren’t entirely accurate.

But as far as he could recall, when he came to, his surgeon told him his injury was the worst of its kind that he’d ever seen.

“I don’t know how you played,” Dr. Neal ElAttrache told him.

Hernández quickly thought of how he could leverage the compliment.

He made a video-call to Andrew Friedman, the Dodgers’ president of baseball operations, and asked ElAttrache to repeat what he just told him.

“I did this for you,” Hernández recalled telling Freidman, “so you better bring me back.”

Not as if Friedman had to be pushed into doing so.

The now-34-year-old former class clown is one of the most emblematic players of the golden era of Dodgers baseball. Activated from the injured list on Monday, Hernández started his ninth season with the franchise in the opening contest of a three-game series against the Colorado Rockies at Uniqlo Field.

“I’m still the clown in the clubhouse,” Hernández said.

Except when he first joined the Dodgers, he was thought of as that and little else. He was a part-time player who knew how to attract eyeballs, once popping up in the dugout in a full-body banana costume in hopes of inspiring a comeback.

But Hernández didn’t work his way into the position he is now just by thrusting his pelvis whenever he heard reggaeton playing in Dodger Stadium.

If his playful antics granted him entry into the hearts of fans, his on-field performances kept him there.

More specifically, his performances in October.

One of the greatest postseason players to ever wear a Dodgers uniform, Hernández has been part of several pivotal moments in the franchise’s recent history, which, by extension, were pivotal moments in the lives of its fans.

Who could ever forget the three home runs Hernández hit against the Chicago Cubs in Game 5 of the 2017 National League Championship Series to advance the Dodgers to their first World Series in 29 years?

Or his game-tying pinch-hit home run against the Atlanta Braves in the 2020 NLCS that contributed to the Dodgers finally breaking their championship drought?

Or his solo blast against the San Diego Padres that drove in the deciding run in a winner-take-all Game 5 of the 2024 NLDS?

Or how he doubled off a runner at second base to seal a win over the Toronto Blue Jays that extended the World Series last year to a seventh game?

What’s especially striking about those games is how Hernández seems to be a completely different player in the playoffs than in the regular season. He’s a career .236 hitter in the regular season. Wanting to be a full-time player, he left the Dodgers after the 2020 World Series, only for the Boston Red Sox to discard him in his third season with them. 

Hernández returned to the Dodgers and resumed creating postseason moments. He now has 16 career postseason homers, tying him for 20th-most all-time – one fewer than Bryce Harper, Aaron Judge and David Ortiz; and one more than Babe Ruth.

Producing last October, however, was particularly difficult. His left elbow problems sidelined him for nearly two months, and he reaggravated the injury diving for a ball in left field against the Milwaukee Brewers in Game 3 of the NLCS.

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“Every time I would get in my batting stance, I would feel like I had a blowtorch on,” Hernández said.

In his eight games before the dive, Hernández batted .379. In the nine games after, he hit .143.

He still managed to make one of the most memorable plays of a World Series won by the Dodgers.

“He’s a tough, tough competitor, tough player,” manager Dave Roberts said. “And I don’t think anyone appreciated how severe the injury was (last year). He was not going to come out of the lineup and gave himself every opportunity to play with the kind of pain that he was going through. That’s kind of what makes him special.”

The operation to repair the torn extensor tendon and muscle in his left elbow cost Hernández the chance to represent Puerto Rico at the World Baseball Classic, which he said “hurt my soul a little more than I was in pain physically last year.”

While appreciative of his place in Dodgers history, Hernández said, “I don’t like to sit back and think about it at all because that’s when you start thinking about, ‘Oh, life after baseball,’ and things like that.”

But he said he’s aware of the different roles he has to take on as a veteran player, whether it’s as a leader in the clubhouse who is “in charge of checking guys” or a representative of the Latino community. 

“We’re living in some rough times, especially in this city in the last few years,” Hernández said.

Last year, Hernández was the only Dodgers player to speak out against the ICE raids staged across Los Angeles.

“I always say that one baseball year is kind of like cat years,” he said. “One baseball year is like seven years of life with how much you learn and all the stuff that happens in one season. And, you know, I love being here. I love being a Dodgers. I love the grind of a baseball season.”

He reflected on the three weeks he spent in the minor leagues on a rehabilitation assignment.

“Now I’m back with my guys here,” he said, “and am ready to go.”