Kiké Hernandez Shuts Down Haters After Roki Sasaki’s Third Career Start for Dodgers

When Los Angeles Dodgers utility man Kiké Hernández re-signed with the team, president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman praised the fan favorite’s leadership above all else.

“Off field this past October may have been one of the most impressive displays of leadership I’ve ever seen,” Friedman said of Hernández. “His connecting with different guys, going out of his way on a number of different fronts, was quite possibly the best leadership I’ve ever seen.”

One of the most vivid displays of Hernández’s leadership in 2025 thus far came after Roki Sasaki’s third Major League start. The utility man gave a glowing review of Sasaki’s encouraging performance against the Phillies, where he retired 12 of 17 batters he faced.

“Everything is under a microscope right now, because of all the hype,” Hernandez said. “But if it was any other random name who struggled through their first two starts, nobody would be making a big deal out of it. So I think the kid’s going to be more than all right, and he showed that today. There’s no need to panic over one or two bad outings.”

Sasaki had two shaky starts to kick off his MLB career. The right-hander’s Dodger Stadium debut was less than ideal as he lasted just 1.2 innings; however, his teammates continued to voice their confidence in Sasaki’s abilities.

“We have full confidence in Roki,” Will Smith said after Sasaki’s second start. “He’ll settle in. He’ll start pitching better. He’ll start dominating the (strike) zone. He’ll be really good for us.”

On Saturday, the Phillies lineup was 0-for-6 against Sasaki’s splitter, which the rookie had trouble utilizing in his previous two starts.

Nonetheless, Smith stood up for Sasaki and his vision for the rookie phenom came one step closer in Sasaki’s start against the Phillies.

“It’s probably one of the best splitters I’ve ever caught. It’s nasty,” Smith said. “I think it just comes back to controlling the zone. Just falling behind in counts, not winning those battles, getting ahead early and really keeping them off balance. They’re able to just check off it.

“It’s definitely a really, really good pitch. Really good fastball, really good slider. But it’s the big leagues. It’s hard, and he’s going to learn. He’s going to get better. He’s going to be really, really good for us.”

Photo Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images

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