The Dodgers are headed to the White House on July 23 to celebrate their second straight World Series title, and Dave Roberts has said he and most of the roster plan to make the trip. Two of the most notable holdouts are already on the record: Mookie Betts and Kiké Hernández.
Betts said he intends to use the off day with his family, especially his newborn daughter. “If I do [go], people are gonna hate me.
If I don't, people are gonna hate me,” he said. “So instead of trying to make everyone else happy, I'm gonna think about myself and my family.”
Hernández, meanwhile, said he hopes to be on a minor league rehab assignment during the Dodgers’ three-series East Coast road trip. Asked whether he would have gone to the White House if he were available, he answered, “ Probably not.”
That response drew criticism from Fox News personality Joe Concha, who used Tomi Lahren’s show to take aim at Hernández. “This guy ... not exactly key to the Dodgers winning their World Series - .237 lifetime hitter. This ain't Freddie Freeman, it's not Ohtani.”
But that line of attack doesn’t hold up if you know anything about Hernández’s value to the Dodgers. His regular-season numbers are not the point. His October track record is.
Hernández has been banged up for most of this season, but the Dodgers have continued to bring him back on short, relatively cheap deals - the kind that land somewhere in the $4-7ish million range. They do it because they know what he brings when the calendar flips to the postseason.
Using Concha’s own preferred lens, Hernández is a .272 career postseason hitter with an .826 OPS across 103 games and 10 postseasons. He also owns the Dodgers’ franchise record for most postseason games played in Dodger blue.
And the bat is only part of the story. The glove has mattered too, including the game-winning double play he turned in Game 6.
That’s why Hernández keeps getting those contracts and why opposing teams know better than to dismiss him. Around baseball, he has a reputation for showing up when October arrives. For the Dodgers, that’s been enough to keep him in the mix.
In Other News...
Dodgers Suddenly Face A Veteran Exit And A Bigger Roster Crossroads
The Dodgers pitching depth took another small hit when a veteran left-hander chose free agency after being designated for assignment, a move that came once Landon Knack was activated from the injured list. It is the kind of roster churn that has become familiar for a club trying to keep its rotation covered while waiting for injured starters to work back, and it adds one more layer to a staff that has been constantly in motion.
Freddie Freeman also offered a reminder that the season can make long-term questions feel distant, saying he is focused on this year and would like to get to 20 major league seasons. Meanwhile, Dave Roberts addressed Eric Lauers place as a sixth starter and acknowledged the possibility that he could become a trade piece before the Aug. 3 deadline if the Dodgers get healthier in the rotation, which leaves the club balancing immediate innings against whatever comes next. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers May Finally Have The Young Arm This Rotation Needs
With the All-Star break here and the Dodgers sitting atop the standings, the front office can afford to think beyond the next series and toward the kind of rotation help that tends to matter most in October. One name worth watching is River Ryan, whose return from injury has been moving along with the kind of patience Los Angeles prefers when it is dealing with a young arm it believes can matter later.
Andrew Friedman has made it clear the Dodgers are not interested in rushing the process, even with the need for another starter looming in the background. Ryan is expected to work his way back into the mix later this season, and if everything goes smoothly from here, the club may finally get a better sense of how soon he can become part of the answer rather than just another promising arm on the way up. [Read more 🡒]
Dodgers Fans Have A Bigger Roki Sasaki Concern Than They Realized
Roki Sasakis first season in Los Angeles has been bumpy enough that the Dodgers are spending the All-Star break looking for answers, not just results. He finished his final start before the break with six innings of work, allowing four hits and three earned runs, and the broader line has been hard to ignore: a 3-5 record and a 5.33 ERA through 16 starts.
The encouraging part for the Dodgers is that Sasaki is still in the rotation, which gives the club time to keep working through what has gone wrong. The less comforting part is how quickly the conversation has shifted from simple command issues to a deeper mechanical concern, and the next few weeks should tell whether the break gives him a reset or only a brief pause in a season that has already asked a lot of him. [Read more 🡒]