In barely 24 hours, the Los Angeles Dodgers went from the highs of sweeping an arch-rival to the lows of losing to one of the worst teams ever created.
On Monday night, the Dodgers opened a series at Coors Field against the Colorado Rockies, who entered the matchup with a record of 35-89. But both teams were on three-game winning streaks as well.
It was an evenly played game throughout, but in the bottom of the ninth inning, Dodgers right fielder Teoscar Hernández got a bad break on an Ezekiel Tovar blooper, and turned what should have been the second out of the inning into a double.
Two pitches later, the Rockies got a walk-off single from Warming Bernabel.
It’s been a brutal season for Hernández on defense, and after the game, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts wasn’t pulling punches. The skipper called out the two-time All-Star for simply not getting the job done.
“He’s got to get better out there,” Roberts said, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. “There’s just no way to put it. I know there’s effort — it’s not a lack of effort. But the thing is, we’ve just got to get better. We do. I don’t know what else to say.”
The 32-year-old Hernández has already matched his negative-9 outs above average total from a year ago in 102 games, compared to 154. That’s in the first percentile of all fielders, and his fielding run value of negative-7 is in the third percentile.
While Hernández’s primary job will always be to drive in runs, the Dodgers made a large enough investment in him (three years, $66 million) that his defense can’t be a total zero.
And seeing as Hernández is having a down year offensively compared to his All-Star campaign a year ago, the last thing he can afford to do is cost his team games with his glove.
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