Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernández Will Defend Home Run Derby Crown Under One Condition
The Los Angeles Dodgers’ 2024 season had several highlights, many of which included Teoscar Hernández. The outfielder’s remarkable first season with the Dodgers propelled Hernández’s popularity in free agency, and perhaps was one of the reasons it took the defending champions longer to re-sign him.
One of Hernández’s best moments in a Dodgers uniform took place in July, when he was crowned the Home Run Derby champion. Hernández made franchise history, becoming the first Dodger player to ever earn the accolade.
The star-studded event was pure bliss for Hernández, who has frequently been underestimated throughout his career.
“People maybe underestimate [me]. You can see it at the end when [Bobby Witt Jr.] was hitting all those homers,” Hernández said after the competition. “Everybody was [rooting] for him. But I’m here, [and I’m] as talented as all those guys over there.”
Hernández continued to succeed throughout the remainder of the season, recording a .272 batting average with a career-high 33 home runs, 99 runs batted in, and 12 stolen bases in 2024. Hernández not only performed well, but he also connected with the crowd in a manner that endeared the Dodgers fan base.
The Dodgers re-signed Hernández to a multi-year deal in the hopes that he can replicate his stellar performance from the 2024 campaign. However, whether Hernández returns to the Home Run Derby to defend his title is still up in the air.
“At the moment, I don’t think I’m going to go, but I don’t know if I’ll change my mind. There is a chance,” Hernández said on Foul Territory. “If I’m going to do it, I have to be in the All-Star Game. And for that to happen, I’m going to have to put up some numbers.”
So, if the fans want to see Hernández defend his crown, they’ll need to get him into the All-Star Game first. Hernández knows he needs to play well enough for that to even be a consideration, though.
Three Storylines Entering 2025 MLB Spring Training: Dodgers, Mets, & More
It is that time of the year for all things grapefruit and cactus to distract from winter’s deep freeze while allowing a window into summer.
Spring has sprung for all 30 MLB teams, with 29 of those left to wonder how they can sling their way past the goliath under construction in Los Angeles.
Those World Series champion Dodgers are set to begin the season first when they take on the Chicago Cubs at Tokyo in mid-March. Do the mightiest of all really need a head start?
Here are three of the biggest stories to watch as the 2025 season works its way to Opening Day:
The criticism of the Dodgers’ front office for trying to make their roster better than yours has fast-forwarded all the way to the annihilation of the game itself. Criticizing one team for doing what your team won’t, or can’t, surely is one way to go.
The Dodgers do seem intent on becoming the first repeat champion in 25 years. They have two decades of evidence on what doesn’t work, so they went out and made the game’s best roster even better.
A pair of Hernandezs were re-signed: Kiké and Teoscar. A Cy Young winner from two different countries was added: Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki. Infielder Hyesong Kim of South Korea already has impressed. The bullpen should be better with Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates, while veteran Michael Conforto will try to deliver his eighth season of double-digit home runs.
