LOS ANGELES -- Kiké Hernández started the 10th-inning comeback on Sunday by the Dodgers with an RBI double, then scored the winning run. It was the third hit of the day for Hernández, and his third three-hit game since the All-Star break.
The timing coincides with Hernández wearing glasses for the first time in his life, let alone on a baseball field.
Hernández said he talked with his former Astros teammate Martin Maldonado, who was with the White Sox when the Dodgers played in Chicago in late June, who described teammates getting more thorough eye exams than the annual standard eye tests during spring training.
The results for Hernández was astigmatism in his right eye. He said he first wore the glasses during the Dodgers' series in Detroit from July 12-14, but it took some getting used to.
"It was a little weird with the depth perception. But the All-Star break was huge for me to get used to the glasses off the field, and once we were able to get back on the field ... It's been timing, and I'm seeing the ball better."
It hasn't all been roses since Hernández mastered the Snellen chart, as he was hitless in two at-bat against Giants left-hander Blake Snell on July 22. But the results for Hernández have been hard to miss.
Before the break, he was hitting just .191/.258/.299 with a 60 wRC+ on the season. But since, he's hitting .279/.342/.444 with a 123 wRC+. Hernández has eight extra-base hits in 20 games during that time, compared to 11 extra-base hits in 67 games prior.
"It's funny. He wasn't seeing spin. We were trying to figure out what it was," manager Dave Roberts said Sunday. "Once he put the glasses on, he's seeing a lot better, and it coincides with him swinging the bat better, controlling the strike zone better, and making better swing decisions."
It's no secret the Dodgers have sorely missed Max Muncy's production at third base since he's been out with an oblique injury for almost three months. In the 73 games since Muncy last played, entering Monday, Dodgers third baseman are hitting a combined .186/.267/.292 with six home runs, nine doubles, and 22 RBI in 282 plate appearances. Over half of those PA (166) have gone to Hernández.
But Hernández with his recent turnaround at the plate, combined with above-average defense at third base, has helped solidify the position. Monday in Milwaukee marks Hernández's 17th straight start at third base.
"It's been huge," Roberts said. "I see him grinding against right-handed pitching, and he's not just giving way in those spots. He's fighting, he's spoiling pitches, and he's coming up with a big hit."
And to think, we might not have seen this coming without Hernández literally being able to see what's coming.
"It's working," Hernández said Sunday of his glasses, "so I'll take it."