Teoscar Hernández has always been known for his bat rather than his defense. However, his defensive skills are declining even more as he progresses throughout his career.
Now, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has to decide how to best manage Hernández’s game time as well as his defensive position when he does play.
“As we get to this point in the season, the governor is put in the garage,” Roberts told Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic. “I don’t want to condemn him for it. His value is to be out there. He’s 32. He’s playing outfield. You can’t have every NFL receiver who is 30 years old run perfect full-on routes. They’ve got to manage it a little bit. I could say, everything is the last play of the World Series or the Super Bowl. But I’m trying to have a little more sympathy and understanding.”
The Dodgers now find themselves in a tough spot as they have to decide which corner outfield spot is less of a liability and then play Hernández there. This comes just a couple of days after Los Angeles’ skipper wasn’t willing to move his veteran outfielder.
“It’s somewhat of a case of pick your poison,” Rosenthal wrote. “Do the Dodgers want opponents stretching singles to doubles if Hernández is in left, or going first to third when he is in right?”
The obvious answer should be Hernández in left. If teams want to try and stretch singles into doubles, force them to take that risk. Additionally, second base is an extra 90 feet away from scoring as well. Having a runner on second should easily be the lesser of two evils.
Los Angeles will gain some flexibility when Tommy Edman, Kike Hernandez and Hyeseong Kim return from the injured list. Until then, Roberts will have to trust his judgement on the outfield situation.
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