Kiké Hernández didn’t sound like a player trying to spin a painful ending. After the Dodgers were swept out of the National League Championship Series by the No. 1 seed Milwaukee Brewers, he went straight to the truth of it.
“These moments, they never - they don’t get easier. No matter how much you win.
These moments suck,” Hernandez said after the game. “I’ve won a lot in my career but I’ve also had a lot of these.
They don’t get easier.
"But [the Brewers] are playing unbelievable right now. Congrats to them.
I hope that they end up winning it all. They’re almost playing perfect baseball.
That’s a team that’s incredibly hungry and incredibly talented. Their pitching was lights out.
Their offense was almost suffocating. I don’t know if, we might have had one shutdown inning all four games.
It’s a tough recipe to win like that.
“At the end of the day, we got beat. They played better than us.
We didn’t hit. Pitched well, but we didn’t give us a chance.
Congrats to them.”
That last line said it all. The Dodgers are out after their first early postseason exit in three years, and they never really got traction in a best-of-seven series that ended in four games. Milwaukee controlled everything - the bats, the arms, the momentum.
The Brewers hit seven home runs to the Dodgers’ one, and Los Angeles just couldn’t match that kind of punch. Milwaukee’s bullpen was as sharp as advertised, and in Game 4 it helped slam the door by holding the Dodgers scoreless over the final seven innings.
At the plate, the Brewers kept coming. The Dodgers, meanwhile, went ice cold when it mattered most, finishing the series with a poor .520 OPS and going just 4-for-27 with runners in scoring position.
Now Milwaukee gets a shot at its first World Series title in franchise history, and Hernández is rooting for it to happen. For the Dodgers, the season is over with a familiar ache. For Hernández, who is 35 and entering free agency this winter, the future is less certain.
He has spent 10 of his 13 seasons with Los Angeles, and his next step remains unclear. What isn’t unclear is that he still wants to chase another championship, wherever that path leads.
In Other News...
Dodgers Move On From A Fan Favorite Catcher With Little Path Back
Ben Rortvedts brief run with the Dodgers appears to have reached its end, with the catcher electing free agency after being designated for assignment on Sept. 1. He had spent time with the organization on a minor league contract and got into 16 major league games this season, but the roster math in Los Angeles has left little room for a return.
The move fits a familiar Dodgers pattern this time of year, when depth pieces often become movable once the club starts sorting out its long-term catching picture. Rortvedt is expected to look for another opportunity for next season, and with the Dodgers carrying multiple catchers on their 40-man roster, the path back to Los Angeles looks narrow. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Defense Is Getting Recognition That Fans Can Finally Debate
The Dodgers are getting some defensive recognition at a time when that side of the game has become part of the conversation around them. MLB announced the finalists for the 2026 Rawlings Gold Glove Award, and Los Angeles placed two players on the list in Max Muncy and Andy Pages. It was a broader field of finalists across the league, with three candidates named at each position in both leagues, and the Blue Jays and Cubs paced everyone with five finalists apiece.
For Dodgers fans, the interesting part is less the announcement itself than what it says about how the clubs defense is being viewed by the people who vote on these awards. The winners will be revealed on ESPN on November 1, with managers and coaches weighing in alongside the SABR Defensive Index, so this is the kind of honor that reflects both reputation and measurable value. Whether Los Angeles turns those finalist nods into hardware is still to be determined, but at least there is now something concrete to debate. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Prospects Are Giving Fans An Early Look At Two Intriguing Arms
The Arizona Fall League is giving Dodgers fans a first look at several prospects running through Glendale, where the Desert Dogs have offered a mix of early offense and some intriguing arms. Charles Davalan has had five hits in 30 at-bats and recently added a home run, while Chase Harlan has already gone deep twice and is hitting .269, giving the lineup a couple of names worth tracking as the fall schedule moves along.
On the mound, Sam Horn has made his professional debut as a right-hander and has shown some bat-missing ability with five strikeouts in four innings, while Brooks Auger has been in the rotation picture as well, allowing two runs in two innings with three strikeouts in his second start. Keith Law of The Athletic offered scouting observations on both pitchers, and for a farm system that always seems to have arms in motion, these are the kinds of early looks that tend to matter even before the results fully settle in. [Read more 🡒]