Dodgers' Hernandez looking to bounce back

When Teoscar Hernandez joined the Dodgers, manager Dave Roberts had one simple request from him.

“For me, just having a little conversation with Teoscar, it’s — just be a good hitter first,” Roberts said. “There’s a lot of guys in the lineup around you that are going to be on base and hit behind you. So I think the thing is, just control the strike zone a little bit more, which I think he can do. And everything will take care of itself.”

A two-time Silver Slugger Award winner in Toronto, Hernandez was not a good hitter for the Seattle Mariners last year. He was half of one.

On the road, he batted .295 with an .830 OPS — numbers in line with his career statistics. At home, though, Hernandez was a different hitter. He batted .217 at T-mobile Park with a .643 OPS.

“I think everything comes down to being confident at home plate. That was one of the hardest things for me, was getting comfortable at the plate when we were at home,” he said.

The 31-year-old Hernandez was not the first hitter to find T-mobile’s dimensions and the Seattle nights unfavorable. For him, Hernandez said he never felt like he could pick up pitches well there.

“I don’t know. For some reason, I always see the pitcher like sideways, not straight,” he said. “I couldn’t figure it out, how to be in a straight position with the pitcher. That was hard for me.

“It’s a nice place to play because the city, the fans, the organization and everything is amazing. But that’s the only bad thing I could say about Seattle.”

Always a high-strikeout hitter, Hernandez hasn’t walked as many as 40 times in a season since 2019. He knows being “a good hitter” means a better balance.

“For me, it’s control the strike zone,” he said, echoing Roberts’ message. “It’s been an issue for me – a lot of strikeouts, no walks. Being on base is good not only for me but the team. If you’re on base a lot you’ve got a chance to score runs. I think this year for me it will be very important to be more on base for the guys behind me so we can score more runs.

“Swing-and-miss has been in my game for my whole career, but I’m just trying to make adjustments and trying to make it better and trying to rebound and have a better season this year.”

Hernandez figures to hit in the middle of the lineup, perhaps as high as fifth against left-handed pitching (against which he has a career .887 OPS), and play both left and right field.

Signed to a one-year, $23.5 million deal by the Dodgers (with $8.5 million deferred), Hernandez had hoped for more this offseason.

“When the offseason started, in my mind I wanted to sign a multiyear deal, like every free agent,” he said. “But everyone knows how hard it’s been this winter.”

Hernandez brought no bitterness with him and Roberts praised him for being “a really good teammate” from his first day with the Dodgers. The feeling is mutual, Hernandez said.

“Just everything about this organization and the guys here I feel like I fit in from the first day,” he said.

— Bill Plunkett FEMALE UMPIRE >> It took eight years but Jen Pawol made the leap from the minors to a major league game spring training contest as umpire at the Grapefruit League opener between the Houston Astros and Washington Nationals in West Palm Beach, Fla. on Saturday.

Pawol’s spring training debut marked the first time since 2007 that a woman umpired a major league spring training game, last done by Ria Cortesio. With a ponytail coming out of her ballcap, Pawol was stationed at third base.

Eight years ago, Pawol, a former New Jersey high school softball star who played at Hofstra, became just the seventh women to umpire a minor league baseball game.

Across the next few weeks, Pawol, 47, will be based in Palm Beach County to work other spring training games. No woman has ever been assigned to umpire a regular season game in the majors.