Phoenix — It would hurt in his groin one day. It would be in his abdomen the following day. After that, it would move to his quadriceps, adductors, or hips.
Kiké Hernández endured discomfort ranging from bothersome to excruciating for a significant portion of the previous two seasons. Due to injuries, he missed roughly one-third of the 2022 season with Boston and persevered through one of his worst seasons ever with the Red Sox and Dodgers in 2023.
But after being traded back to Los Angeles last summer, Hernández received some respite after learning—after several MRI tests had failed to do so—that he had been playing with two sports hernias. On October 24, he had surgery in Philadelphia with Dr. William Meyers to fix them.
Hernández, a 10-year Dodgers veteran, stated, “It was probably the first time ever I’ve been excited that somebody told me I needed surgery.” On February 26, he signed a one-year, $4-million contract with the team.
“I was in a lot of pain, so it was frustrating that the MRIs showed no problems.” Dr. Meyers didn’t say, “Yeah, these hernias don’t really show up in the MRI, and you have to know what you’re looking at to be able to tell,” until I got to Philadelphia.
Hernández, 32, attributes the original diagnosis to Dodgers medical adviser Dr. Keith Pyne.
Hernández stated, “He told me that all the symptoms I was experiencing pointed to a sports hernia because I was experiencing pain in different places every single day.”
Hernández feels he will be in a much better position to make an impact this season because he had three months to heal during the winter and another month of baseball activities before signing.
Hernández stated, “I haven’t been myself the last few years, and it showed in the numbers.” But I feel fantastic, strong, and like I’m in the right place to be able to support the team in any way it needs me. Since I signed late, all I have to do now is get back into the swing of things with baseball.
Before agreeing to a two-year, $14 million contract with the Red Sox, Hernández spent six years (2015–20) with the Dodgers, where he hit three home runs in the 2017 National League Championship Series Game 5 clincher over the Chicago Cubs and helped the team win the World Series in a pandemic-shortened 2020.
After leading Boston to an unexpected run to the American League Championship Series in 2021, he had a fantastic season in 2022, hitting.250 with a.786 on-base plus slugging percentage, 20 home runs, and 60 RBIs in 134 games. However, a string of hip and core muscle injuries limited him to 93 games in 2022, where he hit just.222 with a.629 OPS, six home runs, and 45 RBIs.
Hernández, who hit.222 with a.599 OPS, six home runs, and 31 RBIs in 86 games for Boston before being traded to the Dodgers for two prospects on July 25, continued to have ailments even though his scans were clear at the beginning of the previous season.
Hernández’s output slightly increased in Los Angeles, where he hit.262 with a.731 OPS, five home runs, and thirty RBIs in 54 games. However, his season’s totals of.237,.646 OPS, 11 home runs, and 61 RBIs in 140 games were significantly below his usual level, and he never felt quite like himself.
Hernández remarked, “I basically had no control over my body.” “My offensive mechanics aren’t very good. After arriving in L.A., I made a few changes that got me by, but they weren’t what I intended.
Hernández, who can play all four infield positions as well as three outfield positions, claimed that his inability to use his legs to get his typical jumps on the ball and his difficulty planting his back leg and foot to make the long throw to first base from the shortstop hole or from behind the bag while playing second base made him struggle even more defensively.
“That was new to me, as I’ve never really struggled defensively,” Hernández stated. We can all handle failing at the plate, but when I’ve been as outstanding defensively as I have been throughout my career—and it doesn’t take 10 years in the major leagues to start suffering like that and questioning yourself—it took a little bit of a different toll mentally.
In order to overcome some of his difficulties from the previous season, Hernández claimed that his wife Mariana Vicente worked “as a psychologist” and that he even hired a mental skills coach.
“I decided to accept it, embrace it, play through the pain, and hope for the best,” Hernández remarked. “I kept getting MRIs, and people were telling me I was fine.” “My performance obviously suffered, but at least I didn’t end up on the [injured list] and could play all year.”
“This past year could have been much more difficult than it was without the support of my spouse and my mental health coach. However, I’m just relieved that it’s over and that I can start over in a new year with relatively different body parts.
Hernández has only participated in four Cactus League games this spring, but on the field and in the weight room, where he has been “able to start lifting heavy again and work out the way I want to,” he already senses the advantages of his operation. Hernández’s operation is paying off for the Dodgers as well.
“He appears to be more carefree and effortless,” stated manager Dave Roberts. “He covered up [his ailments] a lot last year, and a lot of information about the prior injuries has surfaced. However, he looks fantastic. He moves so fluidly. Although I’m still aware of his workload for the upcoming season, he is moving like the old Kiké.
