Fansided

Roll the dice on Dodgers Enrique Hernandez?

By Gavin Tramps

CHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 19: Yasiel Puig
CHICAGO, IL - OCTOBER 19: Yasiel Puig /
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Dodgers Enrique Hernandez hit three home runs in the same postseason game. Should you take a shot on him in your fantasy baseball team next season?

The Cubs were demolished 11-1 in the NLCS Game 5 when Enrique Hernandez became the most unlikely power hitter by taking Jose Quintana, Hector Rondon and Mike Montgomery deep.

He joined an exclusive 10-player club of three-homer postseason heroes, including Jose Altuve, Pablo Sandoval, Albert Pujols, Adrian Beltre, Reggie Jackson and Babe Ruth, just to name six.

In 2015, Hernandez quietly became a must-start player in daily lineups. Although his combined season-long slash line of .307/.346/.490 was impressive, he destroyed left-handed pitching. And when I say destroyed, I mean really destroyed. That year he hit .423 with 1.215 OPS vs. lefties.

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He was featured in 76 games as a versatile bench player, appearing everywhere except catcher and first base. Nobody was more invested in Hernandez coming into 2016 than me. I think I owned him on every team that year.

He saw considerably more playing time, appearing in 109 games for the Dodgers, but the Puerto Rico native slumped to a woeful .190 batting average. This was made even worse, especially for people like me wanting to platoon him, as his batting average against left-handers plummeted from .423 down to just .189.

Despite two years of dramatically different production, Hernandez’s discipline at the plate had not changed much over the two seasons, so he entered 2017 as a buy-low, bounceback candidate. But there was no way I was holding any shares in him on any of my teams.

In his first 16 games of this season, Hernandez had a 1.049 OPS. He stared at me from the waiver wire, tempting me to give him another chance. I was considering who to drop when he embarked on a 100-game stretch of mediocrity with a batting average below .200 and a .691 OPS.

His stats for the whole season show a player about 9% below average (91 OPS+) with an uninspiring slash line of .215/.308/.421. However, further examination reveals that the extreme platoon splits have returned, although not exactly as expected.

Hernandez has started doing damage against left-handers again, hitting .270 with .946 OPS with a southpaw on the mound. To show how good this is, of players with at least 150 at-bats vs. left-handers, Hernandez ranks sixth, with some of the best players in the game – Nolan Arenado, Joey Votto, Charlie Blackmon ahead of him.

He is only 26-years-old and still learning the game. He walked 41 times to 80 strikeouts and this season appeared in a career-high 140 games, in which he hit 24 doubles and 11 home runs. There is a lot to like.

Hernandez shot to the attention of the casual baseball fan with his three home runs to break Cubs’ hearts and inevitably, this will result in him being overdrafted next season. Especially considering his dual-eligibility of shortstop and outfield. Before you consider adding him to your roster, make sure you know what you are letting yourself in for.

In 2017, Hernandez had 145 at-bats vs. right-handed pitching. He hit just .159 with .499 OPS. He was the worst player in the league against right-handers. To be honest, Tyler Saladino and Adam Engel were equally as bad, but at-bats for the rebuilding White Sox do not have the same value as for the Dodgers, and anyway, it distorts my narrative.

If you have any consideration for your ratios, you don’t want Hernandez on your roster. He will most likely be drafted in deeper leagues but he can do more damage to your team in these formats.

Next: Astros Charlie Morton: just smoke and mirrors?

Next season, don’t draft Hernandez in any league that you want to win but do make sure he is in your DraftKings and FanDuel lineups when the Dodgers are facing a left-handed pitcher.

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