Dodgers: Kike Hernandez’s 2017 Season Grade

Kike Hernandez had a solid season for the Dodgers this past year. His defensive flexibility and his knack for hitting lefties combine to make him quite the valuable player and his impact this season goes far beyond the numbers.

Kike Hernandez’s value can not be quantified. This season, he logged at least 20 innings at every position except for pitcher and catcher and that defensive flexibility made him the go-to man off the bench. When an injury arose, Hernandez was there to fill the spot and if there was a need for a pinch hitter Kike could be plugged and counted on to play anywhere on the field. Not only did Kike play everywhere but he did so effectively. Across seven positions, Kike was only responsible for seven errors, and he was also a reliable arm to hold runners on from the outfield.

Offensively, Kike’s overall numbers are not very impressive. With a collective batting average of .215 and an OPS of .729, Hernandez’s statistics are not overwhelming. But, when broken down, his stat line looks a lot better. Against lefties this year, Kike hit .270 with 10 of his 11 home runs and 27 of his 37 total RBI’s. Against lefties, Kike had an OPS of .927 and had an on-base percentage of .367.

His offensive statistics against right-handed pitching was a whole different story. Against righties, Kike slashed an abysmal .154/.244/.255. He only hit one home run off of a righty the entire regular season.

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While Kike’s batting against right-handed pitching may not make up the prettiest stats, it may not have been expected that he did well against them. Going into the season, Kike was expected to be a super-utility player off the bench, and he was going to be used to hit against lefties. So, in my opinion, Kike did, in fact, meet expectations.

As for 2018 Kike’s future with the team seems like a no-doubter. His ability to play all over the field as well as his lefty-killing bat should earn him a ticket onto next year’s roster. Unless he is traded, Kike should be the starter in place of anyone taking a day off and should also be a highly used bench player as he has been for the past three seasons.

Kike’s struggles against righties certainly hurt his season grade but what may be lost in that category gets easily made up by his postseason performance. Throughout the entire playoffs, Kike truly shined and was a mainstay source for offensive production. Kike hit .320 in the postseason and drove in eight batters. He also hit three home runs all of which were hit in game 5 of the NLCS.

My favorite moment of Kike’s season is easily his performance in game five of the NLCS. Kike hit three home runs and drove in seven of the team’s eleven runs. He tied the Championship Series record for home runs in a game and set the record for RBI’s in a Championship Series game. As if the actual performance was not enough, Kike promised his mother that he would hit a home run for her before the game.

Next: Rich Hill's 2017 Season Grade

Combine Kike’s defensive usefulness and his lights out hitting against lefties, and you could argue that he deserves a B for his efforts this year. Factor in his performance against righties and I think Kike falls in the B/B- range for his season grade. I lean more towards a B- only because of his hitting against right-handed pitching. He did do his job by being a useful replacement at every position, and he still did his job against lefties which was a huge issue in the 2016 season. If he can keep up the momentum from the playoffs, Kike’s B- this year will only go up.