Teoscar Hernández proved during Yankees series that he could be Dodgers' most key expenditure

The Dodgers' weekend in the Bronx was one for the ages. After a rather embarrassing series loss to the Pirates, they seemed re-energized in New York after Dodgers fans came out in droves to watch what very well could be a postseason preview between two legendary franchises, and the result was electric.

Shohei Ohtani and Aaron Judge were the headlining names, and while Ohtani did pick up an RBI and Judge hit three homers, they were outshined by Teoscar Hernández, and it wasn't even a close race. After a fantastic shutout start from Yoshinobu Yamamoto in Game 1, the score was nil-nil by the end of the ninth, and then again in the 10th. Hernández must've decided he'd had enough, because he stepped up to yank a double to left field and score Ohtani as the ghost runner as well as Freddie Freeman, who reached first on a walk.

In Game 2, Hernández got LA's scoring started early with a solo homer in the second, picked up an RBI on a groundout in the sixth, and then, to cap it all off, absolutely cranked a home run for a grand slam in the eighth to put the Dodgers up by six and give the Yankees absolutely no hope of coming back.

Teoscar Hernández headlined Dodgers-Yankees series with electric weekend in the Bronx

The Dodgers dropped Game 3 to the Yankees, but Hernández kept the power surge going with another homer in the sixth to put LA up by one. All told, he batted .500 across the series with a mammoth 1.988 OPS, two doubles, three homers, nine RBI, and a stolen base to top it off.

Hernández is set to be a free agent after this season and was one of the Dodgers' free agent signings that was overshadowed by Ohtani, Yamamoto, and Tyler Glasnow. His $23.5 million contract (with about $8 million in deferrals) was by no means cheap, but was certainly hidden in the shadows of his teammates' deals, but his (for now) short Dodgers tenure is looking like it could be one of the best investments the team could've made.

If Hernández is angling for a longer term deal in LA, he certainly made a case for himself during this past weekend's series. He currently leads the team in home runs and RBI, and if the series does end up being a postseason preview, the Dodgers have a proven Yankee killer on their hands.