Dodger Fans Love Affair with Enrique Hernandez

He isn’t a product of the Dodgers system; he was actually drafted by the Astros in the 6th round in 2009. He started his pro career in the Gulf League, a rookie level team. He was 17 years old. He showed versatility from the beginning playing SS and 2B primarily. He played in 53 games his first-year batting .295/1/27. He had 8 steals, 12 doubles and 3 triples. He struck out 28 times and drew 10 walks.

He made it to the majors in 2014 at 22 years old. He played in 24 games for the Astros and then at the deadline, July 31, 2014, he and Jared Cosart and a minor leaguer named Austin Wells, were traded to the Miami Marlins for Jake Marisnick, Francis Martes, Colin Moran and a 2015 competitive balance pick in round A. Overall in 42 games with the two teams, he batted .248 with 3 homers and 14 RBIs. He struck out 21 times and walked 12.

That December, he was part of the first major trade made by Andrew Freidman. LA traded Dee Gordon, Dan Haren, Miguel Rojas and cash to Miami for Chris Hatcher, Austin Barnes, Andrew Heaney and Enrique. Few Dodgers fans have ever called him that, to them, he is simply Kike.

His father was a scout for the Pittsburgh Pirates, his mother, who is Cuban, owns a boutique in Puerto Rico. Kike as he is called, started playing baseball at the age of six. He would compete in international tournaments in Venezuela and the Dominican Republic. He attended school at the American Military Academy in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. He was just 5’6″ his junior year, but he grew 5″ during his senior year.

The Astros drafted him in 2009 in the sixth round at just 17 years old. He received a 150,000-dollar bonus. His MLB debut came in 2014 against the Mariners on July 1. He got two hits, his first being a ground-rule double off of Dominic Leone. The next day, he hit his first homer off of Chris Young, yep, the same Chris Young who is now running the Rangers.

Freidman had acquired the versatile player to be a late inning defensive replacement at second, third, SS and the outfield. He played 20 games at 2nd, 1 at 3rd, 16 at SS and 34 in the outfield where he appeared at all three positions. What wasn’t expected was the .307/7/22 with a .836 OPS offense. He played in all five games of the LDS loss to the Mets going 4-13. He had no extra base hits and did not drive in a run.

Kike was very energetic and sort of a clubhouse cutup. He reveled at getting a laugh out of teammates. One time he showed up in a banana suit. If he had a fault at the plate, it was that at times, he became pull happy. This resulted in increased Ks.

In 2016, he played in 109 games, once more as the super-sub, but his BA plummeted to .190. He hit 7 homers and drove in 18. He was 0-8 in the LCS against the Cubs. He did not play in the LDS against the Nationals.

In 2017, it was more of the same. He got into 140 games. His BA improved 25 points to .215. He hit 11 homers and drove in 37. His OPS improved to .729, his K rate increased to about 2-1. His OBP though was barely above .300. In the postseason, the fans love affair with him began to get bigger. He was 1-3 against Az in the LDS, then he hit .444 against the Cubs in the LCS crushing 3 homers and driving in 7 in game six. The MVP award though went to Chris Taylor and Justin Turner. He got 16 plate appearances in the World Series loss, but was just 3-12 in the series with 1 driven in.

In 2018, Kike played in 145 games, the bulk of them, 87 in the outfield. 63 of those came as the centerfielder. He posted a 3.4 WAR, highest of his career to that point, slashed .256/.336/.470 with 21 homers, 52 driven in and a .806 OPS. Unfortunately for the Dodgers, those numbers did not translate into postseason play. He was 5-41, .121, with 2 homers and 3 driven in.

In 2019, he played in 130 games. His slash line was .237/.304/.411 with 17 homers and 64 driven in. The bad was that he struck out 97 times and walked just 36. He was 3-7 in the LDS loss to the Nationals, with a homer and 3 driven home. He also had a double.

In 2020, Kike got into 48 of the Dodgers 60 games. He hit .230 with 5 homers and 20 RBIs. He struck out 31 times and walked just 6. He played 30 of those games at 2nd base. In the playoffs, he was simply a defensive replacement against the Brewers in both games. He was 0-5 against the Padres. He was 4-13 against the Braves with 2 solo homers and 2 driven in. The most important of which was his game tying PH solo shot off of AJ Mintner in the 6th inning of game 7. Bellinger hit the winning homer the next inning off of Chris Martin. When doing an arm bump with Bellinger, Bellinger dislocated his shoulder.

In the World Series against Tampa, Kike was just 2-10. He did drive in 2 runs and scored 1. Kike had signed a 1-year deal prior to the 2020 season avoiding arbitration. For whatever reason, the Dodgers decided to let Kike become a free agent so he could pursue a starting job elsewhere. Gavin Lux was due to become the starter at 2nd base in 21, and Chris Taylor was their super sub. He would be the last player to wear #14 as it was retired in June of 2022 after Dodger great Gil Hodges finally made it into the Hall as a player.

On the 2nd of February in 21, he signed a 2-year-14-million-dollar contract with the Boston Red Sox. Initially he was the Sox starting CF. He would play in 134 games for the Sox. He posted his highest WAR ever at 4.9. He slashed .250/.347/.449 with a .786 OPS, 20 homers and 60 driven in. He set a career high with 35 doubles. He struck out 110 times and walked 61. Not used as much as a utility player, he played 93 games in the outfield.

In the postseason, he was a combined 20-52, .384 with 5 homers and 9 driven in. By far his best postseason performance ever. Boston still lost to the Astros in the ALCS, 4-2. In 23, his stats nosedived. In his defense, he went on the IL on June 8th with a flexor strain. He returned August 16th. The Sox signed him to a 1-year extension for 10 million on September 6th. In 93 games he slashed .222/.291/.338. He hit 6 homers and drove in 45.

At the beginning of 2023, longtime SS Xavier Bogaerts had left in free agency and Kike became a leader in the Sox clubhouse. He was also instrumental in recruiting Justin Turner and Kenley Jansen to the Sox. With Bogaerts gone, and Story on the IL, Kike was the opening day SS. After 46 games and a league leading 14 errors, he was removed from the position. He mostly played 2nd the rest of his time with the Sox, but injuries put him back at SS for a while. He played in 86 games for Boston, hitting .222 with 6 homers and 31 driven in. On July 25th, the Sox traded him back to the Dodgers for Nick Robertson and Justin Hagenman.

Back with LA, Kike was issued #8 because #14 was retired when Hodges went into the Hall. He would play 54 games with LA hitting .262 with 5 homers and 30 driven in. He was 3-8 in LA’s 3 game LDS loss to the D-Backs. In 24, it was back to his role as a super sub, and as in many seasons before, he played multiple positions during the year, including 4 stints as a relief pitcher in blowout games. His ERA was 4.15 in 4.1 innings. At the plate, it was a typical Kike season, .229/.281/.373 with 12 homers and 42 RBI’s. His K ratio was close to 3-1 striking out 77 times to 27 walks.

He had a solid postseason run, 15-51, .294 with 2 homers and 6 RBIs, and LA won its 8th World Series. Kike also gained some not-so-great attention when he muttered the F word on live TV. But the fans still loved the guy and showed that love at the parade and gathering downtown. He got some of the loudest cheers.

In 2025, Kike only played in 92 games. He spent time on the IL with inflammation in his elbow. He said it affected his swing. His BA dropped to .203. He did manage to hit 10 homers and drive in 35. In the post season, he was 4-8 in the Wild Card series with the Reds. He had a double and an RBI. Against the Phillies in the LDS, 3-14 with a double and 3 driven in. He was 4-14 against the Brewers in the LCS. 2 doubles and no RBIs. In the World Series against Toronto, he went 5-28 with a homer and 3 driven in. His biggest contribution was on defense, where he ran in caught a fly ball in game six at Toronto and fired to Miggy Ro for a game-ending double play. And also, for getting run over by Andy Pages game saving catch in game seven.

Kike underwent elbow surgery in the offseason for torn muscle in his left elbow. LA resigned him and he is supposed to come off of the 60-day-IL sometime in May. One thing is for certain, the fans at Dodger Stadium will give him a rousing welcome the first time he appears at home. Kike is and remains, a fan favorite.