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The Los Angeles Dodgers are bringing back fan favorite utility player Kiké Hernández, the veteran announced himself on social media Sunday.
According to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic, the new contract is pending a physical.
Hernández was instrumental in the Dodgers’ run to the 2024 World Series championship. His home run in Game 5 of the National League Division Series against the San Diego Padres accounted for half of the team’s runs in a series-clinching 2-0 victory.
The 33-year-old has spent eight of his 11 major league seasons in Los Angeles, winning World Series rings in 2020 as well as 2024.
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In 86 career postseason games — all but 11 with Los Angeles — Hernández has hit .278 with a .353 on-base percentage and a .522 slugging percentage. Those marks are all notably higher than his regular season slash line of .238/.308/.405, underscoring his importance to a roster with ambitions of back-to-back championships.
Hernández followed up his heroics in the 2024 NLDS with a 7-for-24 (.292) performance with a home run in the NL Championship Series against the New York Mets. Appearing in all five World Series games against the Yankees, he batted .278 (5 for 18) with a triple and three runs scored.
The Dodgers signed Hernández relatively late in the offseason for the second straight year. He agreed to a free-agent contract with the Dodgers in Feb. 2024, re-signing with the team that acquired him from the Boston Red Sox in a July 2023 trade for two minor leaguers.
More to come on this story from Newsweek Sports.
