Former MLB player puts Kiké Hernández, Dodgers on blast for antics in Padres blowout

With the Los Angeles Dodgers down 11-0 to the San Diego Padres in the seventh inning on Wednesday, manager Dave Roberts turned to utility man Kiké Hernández to get the final seven outs of the game.

While position players coming in to pitch when a game gets out of hand is hardly a new phenomenon, the topic still stirs up plenty of debate within the baseball community. On Wednesday's episode of the Talkin' Baseball podcast, former Major League infielder Trevor Plouffe went on an impassioned rant about position players pitching in big league games.

“Something I am pretty passionate about, and we saw it on display last night is position players pitching. Needs to go,” Plouffe said. “I get it, we put rules in to try to curtail it, it hasn't worked. I feel like I've seen more position players pitching than ever now. Teams are basically saying ‘we forfeit' without actually forfeiting.”

Trevor Plouffe puts Kiké Hernández, Dodgers on blast for antics in Padres blowout

Plouffe went on to call out Hernández specifically for wearing a helmet on the mound, saying it was "a little bit for protection, a little bit to make a mockery" of the situation.

“I'd like to get that out of the game,” Plouffe said. “I'm just not a fan of it. I don't think it's good for the sport at all. It's a bad, bad, look for the sport.”

In fairness, Hernández did better on the mound than the reliever he replaced. Matt Sauer, who was credited with the loss for the Dodgers, got lit up for nine earned runs on 13 hits and three walks in 4 2/3 innings of work in relief of opener Lou Trivino. Hernández, on the other hand, allowed just one earned run on three hits and two walks through 2 1/3 innings.

It's also worth noting that the Dodgers currently have 14 pitchers on the IL. Would it really be worth risking a 15th pitching injury in an 11-0 game? Hernández's perceived antics aside, it's hard to argue with Roberts' logic on that one. He's trying to protect his guys and he's also working with a skeleton crew. Fans can obviously see both sides of the argument here, but we're not sure there's a perfect answer with regard to what the Dodgers have been enduring with their pitching staff in 2025.

More Dodgers content from Dodgers Way