The Los Angeles Dodgers, up 10-0 going into the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday night, wisely decided not to expend any of their bullpen arms. Instead, they turned to utilityman Kiké Hernandez. It wasn't his first time taking the mound; Hernandez saw a third of an inning in 2018 and once last month as well.
After two appearances this year, Hernandez has yet to give up an earned run. Is he elite?
I kid, and Hernandez did after the game, too.
"Offense, defense, pitching? You're basically Shohei Ohtani!," Kirsten Watson said in his postgame on-field interview. Hernandez replied, "Shohei, who?" before running away into the dugout to end the interview, to the shock of Watson.
“Shohei who?” ⁰⁰Kiké and Shohei, two-way players. 😂 pic.twitter.com/wYXsbus2Yp
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) August 4, 2024
While there's likely not a future as a pitcher for the Dodger, he did admit the offense gave him confidence to play on the mound.
"I had a great game at the plate so I was feeling overly confident on the mound. I knew my stuff was gonna play especially with the defense behind me," Hernandez said.
"Probably a rookie mistake," he joked about the one extra base hit he gave up.
Ohtani is not pitching this season as he recovers from an elbow injury and surgery, but the expectation is he'll be back to being a two-way player next year. For now, Hernandez is the closest the Dodgers have.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as Shohei Ohtani's Teammate Announces He's Coming for His Job in Funny Postgame Interview.
