{"id":580037,"date":"2026-02-18T22:52:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T22:52:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/580037\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T22:52:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T22:52:12","slug":"why-healthy-slimmer-teoscar-hernandez-is-out-to-prove-something","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/580037\/","title":{"rendered":"Why healthy, slimmer Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez is ‘out to prove something’"},"content":{"rendered":"

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> <\/p>\n

PHOENIX \u2014 A slimmer Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a> reported to Camelback Ranch this week, willing to take on a new role in the Dodgers<\/a>\u2019 quest for a three-peat.<\/p>\n

Hern\u00e1ndez admitted Tuesday that he played through a nagging left groin injury last year, which forced him to miss time early in the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t get back in my health,\u201d Hern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cWhen I got back from the injury, I was fighting through it. Obviously, I didn\u2019t say anything. I just wanted to be on the field and try to help the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hern\u00e1ndez says he was overweight in 2025, and took better care of his body this past winter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a combination of eating really good or knowing what you\u2019re eating, and working a little harder than normal,\u201d Hern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cBut, right now I\u2019m feeling really good. Back to the way I used to be. My whole career I used to be 204-205 [lbs.], in that range. Last year, I was a little over [that], but I\u2019m back to normal right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hern\u00e1ndez says the extra weight he had put on undoubtedly slowed him down last season.<\/p>\n

\u201c[As] the season [went], I realized that I wasn\u2019t moving the way I know I can move,\u201d Hern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cAnd that was one of my goals for the offseason, trying to get back in the shape I used to be, the weight that I know that I can be and I can perform really good. So, that was the main goal for this offseason.\u201d<\/p>\n

The veteran corner outfielder played 134 games in 2025, down 20 games from the 154 he played the season prior, his first with the Dodgers. He also saw a decline in home runs (33 to 25), RBI (99 to 89), Batting Average (.272 to .247), On Base Percentage (.339 to .284) and OPS (.840 to .738) from 2024 to 2025.<\/p>\n

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts<\/a> expects Hern\u00e1ndez to bounce back.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s one of our best run producers,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cAnd then if you look at this lineup, there should be a lot of guys on base with him up to bat. So, I think that this could be a year where he really drives in a lot of runs. He should drive in a lot of runs this year. I think he\u2019s out to prove something, which is good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hern\u00e1ndez primarily played left field in his first season with the Dodgers, before taking over right field duties in 2025. With the Dodgers signing four-time All-Star Kyle Tucker to a four-year, $240 million contract over the winter, Hern\u00e1ndez will return to left field.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made the signing and then I ended up reaching out to Teo and said, \u2018This is what\u2019s going to happen,\u2019 and he gave me a big thumbs up,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cAnd he\u2019ll be ready to go. I think it just speaks to the guys we have in the room. If winning is the most important thing, then it doesn\u2019t matter the role [or] the position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hern\u00e1ndez recalls the conversation with Roberts being short.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe told me, \u2018Look, you\u2019re moving to left field,\u201d Hern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cAnd I said, \u2018OK, let\u2019s do it.\u2019 That\u2019s about it. I\u2019m ready in any way that they may need me. I just want to be there and be on the field, and just play every day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> PHOENIX \u2014 A slimmer Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez reported to Camelback Ranch this week, willing to take on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":580038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2406],"tags":[5,190,39,5213,12045,14,814,2335,1165,4332,4333,774,57,3224,4331,12043,4,6263,76002,1602,1479,468,76003,1319],"class_list":["post-580037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-baseball","tag-day","tag-dodgers","tag-field","tag-friedman","tag-game","tag-hernandez","tag-home-run","tag-la","tag-la-dodgers","tag-ladodgers","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesdodgers","tag-lot","tag-mlb","tag-october","tag-past-winter","tag-roberts","tag-season","tag-shohei-ohtani","tag-slim-teoscar-hernandez","tag-year"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116094090826226103","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=580037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/580037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/580038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=580037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=580037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=580037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}