A major point of contention with the Los Angeles Dodgers this season has been the production from the outfield.
Michael Conforto and Teoscar Hernández have never been known for their defensive prowess, but with an Outs Above Average ranking in the 5th and 3rd percentile, respectively, all eyes turn to their offensive output if the defense isn’t up to standards.
In Hernández’s case, he recently made it out of a month of August that saw him bat just .211 through the 24 games he played. Although just 12 games have been played September, Hernández is already showing life in the batter’s box.
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“I finally feel like myself,” Hernández said. “Every coordination that I work on in the cage, everything that I try to do in the cage before the game, I’ve been doing it these past five days. So it’s definitely getting closer to where I was before I got hurt at the beginning of the season.
“It’s getting better at the right time, right before the season ends. We’re still fighting, trying to win some games to get closer to the second spot [in the overall NL standings]. Just keep working and let everything go on the field.”
With a slash line of .304/.333/.543 and an OPS of .877 this month, Hernández is certainly looking more like himself as well.
On the year, Hernández is batting .251 with a .746 OPS and 24 home runs, down from last year’s .272 average and .840 OPS to go with a career-high 33 long balls.
Something that Hernández is doing less this year compared to last is hitting the fastball. Despite just seeing 1.5 percent fewer of those offerings at this point in 2025, Hernández is down from .289 to .264 against the heater. Regardless, Hernández is still hitting home runs on fastballs at a higher clip, having hit 12 home runs against them last season, and already 13 dingers against them this season.
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Photo Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images
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