From Dodger Insider magazine: The optimist — Teoscar Hernández
Teoscar Hernández’s Dodger identity has been positivity and production
Editor’s note: This story is taken from the pages of Dodger Insider magazine.
by Cary Osborne
That joy, that smile that everyone sees today was nearly stolen from Teoscar Hernández before he really got going in his professional baseball career.
All because of his swing.
Hernández arrived in professional baseball in 2011 out of the Dominican Republic for a modest signing bonus. The difficulties of a new language and a new culture and being young were already weighty as he tried to excel in the Houston Astros organization.
Despite being mostly unheralded, Hernández showed five-tool player potential early on. But he kept getting badgered about his swing.
“You’re not going to hit with that swing,” Hernández recalls being told. “It was really sad for me. I took that, and I used that to my advantage. I kept working hard to get to my goal.”
Goals attained. The smile hasn’t left.
The gratitude of playing Major League Baseball — particularly now in the Dodger organization, where he has made a tremendous impact in a short period of time for a team and fanbase that have taken to him — have helped elevate Hernández’s performance.
The truth is his joy has also made another impact — elevating the performance of others.
“Everyone loves the guy,” says Dodger first baseman Freddie Freeman. “The dog days of summer are real. It is true. It’s August 12, and you’re in Cincinnati, and you’ve played 112 straight games, and it’s 104 degrees, and you have those guys who can bring up the energy level, and Teoscar is one of them.
“He’s our happy guy. And guys feed off it. There are days where you’re walking in and it’s 9:30 and you got a one o’clock day game, and you’re grinding, and you’re tired. And then he’s over there just walking through, and he’s all happy. It cheers you up, and it makes people play better. And that’s why Teoscar is so valuable here.”
Despite the early issues in his professional career, Hernández was earning an early reputation as a Major Leaguer with personality. One headline from an MLB.com story on Hernández in March 2017 read: “Teoscar brings positive energy, new approach.”
When the Toronto Blue Jays traded Hernández to the Seattle Mariners on Nov. 16, 2022, the adjective “beloved” often preceded the Hernández name in stories, and even Toronto general manager Ross Atkins said, “I think the world of him,” after making the deal.
“I’m always trying to be happy, trying to have energy, positive energy — not only for me, but for my teammates and for the people around,” Hernández says. “I’m like this outside of baseball. And in baseball, everywhere I go, I just try to leave something positive with every person that I’ve met.”
The Dodgers found that out firsthand last season. And it has been consistent.
Freeman recalls one point of the season where Hernández’s positivity shone despite a difficult circumstance.
Hernández’s grandfather Pedro passed away last summer at 94 years of age. The Dodger outfielder missed two games after flying from Los Angeles to the Dominican Republic to attend the funeral. He rejoined the team in Chicago.
A week after the funeral, Hernández smiled while talking about his grandfather and said, “We feel blessed to have had him for a long time. It was great — all the moments, all the history we remember about him.”
Recalls Freeman: “He came back, and he was still Teoscar Hernández. That’s what gravitates people to him.”
This year and last, his care for and relationship with second-year outfielder Andy Pages have been clearly noticeable. There have been points over the first two seasons where Pages has found difficulties — at times in the batter’s box and other times in the outfield. Whether it’s plays in the outfield or choices Pages has made in the batter’s box, Hernández hasn’t shied away from counseling the 24-year-old — even in a full ballpark or with the TV cameras capturing every move.
Pages has responded with an outstanding first half on both sides. He has been both a productive hitter and an elite outfield defender.
“He told me to just keep working and to trust myself in the process,” Pages says. “I told him the truth — I told him I didn’t feel good out there with the results I was getting. He told me to just keep going and to trust myself because at some point my moment was going to come.
“You know that he’s someone who will always support you and always wants the best for you. To be with Teo every day and getting to talk to him has been a huge blessing.”
Hernández says he could identify last season that there was a plan to give Pages the runway to become an everyday player. Knowing that, he has played the big brother type. He sees some of Pages in himself — a young outfielder trying to find his way in the Majors. Hernández was 24 years old in his second year in the Majors in 2017.
“I’m always trying to help the young guys who are going through the process,” Hernández says. “The big leagues are really hard in the beginning. It can be really tough because sometimes you don’t know how to handle things that you never went through. So, it’s one of those relationships that I am always trying to give the best advice that I can.”
And he does it with a smile.
It’s been one of the ever-present images of the Dodgers since the beginning of the 2024 season — and on the faces of the people occupying the seats at Dodger Stadium when he’s in the batter’s box.
Hernández bet on himself in 2024 by signing a one-year contract after a history of power and production. Last season now proves to have been a pivotal point in his career. He was an All-Star, became the first Dodger to win the Home Run Derby and had arguably the best season of his career. He set career highs in home runs (33) and Baseball Reference’s Wins Above Replacement (4.3). He fell an RBI short of 100.
Hernández drove in the score-tying runs in the Dodgers’ fifth inning in Game 5 of the World Series.
And he hasn’t relented with runners on base.
Before a hamstring injury cost him 12 games in May this year, he led the Major Leagues in RBI. He now has 51 RBI now, putting him on a pace for 104.
It has prompted manager Dave Roberts to describe him as one of baseball’s elite hitters with runners in scoring position or on base.
“He relishes those spots,” Roberts says. “He’s not afraid to fail. He can manage his emotions. He can kind of fend off a fastball; he can hit and slug or hit soft stuff/secondary pitches; he could hit to all fields. And that’s what you have to do to be able to drive in runs.”
Managing emotions also means being comfortable to show them.
Hernández has been consistent in saying that he came to Los Angeles for his ninth Major League season and stayed here for season 10 and beyond for one objective — to win.
Winning caused him to let his emotions out during the Dodgers’ 2024 World Series championship celebration at Dodger Stadium on Nov. 1.
Hernández held a microphone in his right hand and a massive blue LA flag in his left while he stood on a stage.
He was encircled in love — fans to his back, front and both sides showing their appreciation with an enormous cheer after Mookie Betts introduced him.
“I just want to say thank you,” Hernández said that day. Then he stopped and wiped a tear with his sleeve. His lips quivered.
It’s a memory Hernández recalls months later.
“I can be tough, but when I truly feel something, I can be that emotional,” Hernández says. “I don’t hide my emotions. I show it.”
From Dodger Insider magazine: The optimist — Teoscar Hernández was originally published in Dodger Insider on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.