{"id":489113,"date":"2026-02-19T01:59:10","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T01:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/489113\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T01:59:10","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T01:59:10","slug":"why-healthy-slimmer-teoscar-hernandez-is-out-to-prove-something","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/489113\/","title":{"rendered":"Why healthy, slimmer Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez is ‘out to prove something’"},"content":{"rendered":"

p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> <\/p>\n

PHOENIX \u2014 A slimmer Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a> reported to Camelback Ranch this week, willing to take on a new role in the Dodgers<\/a>\u2019 quest for a three-peat.<\/p>\n

Hern\u00e1ndez acknowledged Tuesday that he played through a nagging left groin injury last year, which forced him to miss time early in the season.<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t get back in my health,\u201d Hern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cWhen I got back from the injury, I was fighting through it. Obviously, I didn\u2019t say anything. I just wanted to be on the field and try to help the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hern\u00e1ndez says he was overweight in 2025, and took better care of his body this past winter.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a combination of eating really good or knowing what you\u2019re eating, and working a little harder than normal,\u201d Hern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cBut, right now I\u2019m feeling really good. Back to the way I used to be. My whole career I used to be 204-205 [lbs.], in that range. Last year, I was a little over [that], but I\u2019m back to normal right now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hern\u00e1ndez says the extra weight he had put on undoubtedly slowed him down last season.<\/p>\n

\u201c[As] the season [went], I realized that I wasn\u2019t moving the way I know I can move,\u201d Hern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cAnd that was one of my goals for the offseason, trying to get back in the shape I used to be, the weight that I know that I can be and I can perform really good. So, that was the main goal for this offseason.\u201d<\/p>\n

The veteran corner outfielder played 134 games in 2025, down 20 games from the 154 he played the season prior, his first with the Dodgers. He also saw a decline in home runs (33 to 25), RBI (99 to 89), batting average (.272 to .247), on-base percentage (.339 to .284) and OPS (.840 to .738) from 2024 to 2025.<\/p>\n

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts<\/a> said he expects Hern\u00e1ndez to bounce back.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s one of our best run-producers,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cAnd then if you look at this lineup, there should be a lot of guys on base with him up to bat. So, I think that this could be a year where he really drives in a lot of runs. He should drive in a lot of runs this year. I think he\u2019s out to prove something, which is good.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hern\u00e1ndez primarily played left field in his first season with the Dodgers, before taking over right-field duties in 2025. With the Dodgers signing four-time All-Star Kyle Tucker to a four-year, $240 million contract over the winter, Hern\u00e1ndez will return to left field.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe made the signing and then I ended up reaching out to Teo and said, \u2018This is what\u2019s going to happen,\u2019 and he gave me a big thumbs up,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cAnd he\u2019ll be ready to go. I think it just speaks to the guys we have in the room. If winning is the most important thing, then it doesn\u2019t matter the role [or] the position.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hern\u00e1ndez recalls the conversation with Roberts being short.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe told me, \u2018Look, you\u2019re moving to left field,\u201d Hern\u00e1ndez said. \u201cAnd I said, \u2018OK, let\u2019s do it.\u2019 That\u2019s about it. I\u2019m ready in any way that they may need me. I just want to be there and be on the field, and just play every day.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"p]:text-cms-story-body-color-text clearfix”> PHOENIX \u2014 A slimmer Teoscar Hern\u00e1ndez reported to Camelback Ranch this week, willing to take on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[558],"tags":[64,63,1545,5138,9031,45756,1862,187443,67138,14294,591,33373,247208,32224,161,5149,247209,85,1547],"class_list":{"0":"post-489113","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-day","11":"tag-dodgers","12":"tag-field","13":"tag-friedman","14":"tag-game","15":"tag-hernandez","16":"tag-home-run","17":"tag-lot","18":"tag-mlb","19":"tag-october","20":"tag-past-winter","21":"tag-roberts","22":"tag-season","23":"tag-shohei-ohtani","24":"tag-slim-teoscar-hernandez","25":"tag-sports","26":"tag-year"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}