LOS ANGELES – The weekend series between his Los Angeles Dodgers and the Toronto Blue Jays meant reunion time for Teoscar Hernandez and some old friends.
There was playful banter with Vladimir Guerrero Jr. at first base, a quick hug with Bo Bichette on a changeover between innings, a meeting with players and staff behind the batting cage during batting practice and a first-hand look at a team he’s kept tabs on from a distance.
“I always watch their games because of Vladdy, Bo, (George) Springer and all the guys I played with when I was there,” Hernandez said during an interview in the Dodgers dugout. “I always am going to wish the best for everybody. Hopefully they can keep going the way they’re going right now. Hopefully we can meet in the World Series. That would be awesome. They’re playing really good baseball, playing hard and doing the little things in clutch moments. They put together a really good team beside the big names Vladdy, Bo and Springer, put the right pieces together, and that’s why they’re having success.”
Hernandez nearly became a part of that success as the Blue Jays pursued him during his free agency in the winter following a stellar 2024 season with the Dodgers in which he was an all-star, a Silver Slugger, won the Home Run Derby and became a World Series champion.
“We actually came really close to a reunion so I can come back to Toronto,” said Hernandez. “They were trying to do a couple of things, I’m not going to say what, but they were trying to do a couple things first. And they said if this worked out, we can get together, we can sit down and talk about a contract. So, yes, it was really close.”
Given his friendship with Guerrero and the timeline of the first baseman’s discussions with the Blue Jays, it’s logical that Hernandez wanted the club to extend its cornerstone before signing with them.
As those discussions dragged on, Hernandez returned to the Dodgers at the start of January for $66 million over three years — a contract that also includes a $15 million club option for 2028. Guerrero’s $500-million, 14-year extension didn’t get done until April 7, a foundational deal that should help the Blue Jays when they talk to free agents this winter.
Throughout that lengthy negotiation, Hernandez said he stayed in touch with Guerrero, offering both his support and his encouragement to stay put in Toronto, telling him, “if you feel good over there, you have your whole life there, your family, you have everything in that city and that country, so try to make it work.”
“I’ve now been on four different teams. It is not the same as growing up in one organization,” Hernandez continued. “I don’t think about Toronto without Vladdy. He’s like an iconic person there. He’s obviously from Canada, he’s the right guy to be a Blue Jay for life. It’s great. I’m happy for him, for the team, for the city, the fans. The fans love Vladdy, so they deserve to have in him there for all his career. It was great. So happy for him.”
Hernandez has become a similarly strong fit with the star-studded Dodgers, tearing through the first month of the season before a left adductor strain and a foul ball off his left foot slowed him down. In 96 games, he’s batting .254/.289/.464 with 18 homers and 69 RBIs, but he’s now rounding back into form just as the Dodgers are returning to full strength for a final push to October.
Another post-season looms for the defending champions, and Hernandez said that winning last year “gives you a lot of experience.”
“Especially because you’re going through so many big moments,” he said. “It gives you confidence, energy and everything you need to focus on trying to perform the best way you can just to help the team. Winning a championship is one of the best things for any athlete. I enjoyed it — you know me, I enjoy this game, especially when it matters the most — we were hungry and we came back this year trying to make it back to the World Series.”
FLUHARTY SAVES THE DAY: Mason Fluharty and Tommy Nance warmed in the bullpen together during the ninth inning Sunday, unsure whether either was going in as Jeff Hoffman faced Alex Call with two on and one out.
Presumably, if Hoffman retired Call, the Blue Jays would have intentionally walked Shohei Ohtani to face Betts with two outs, either riding with Hoffman or letting Nance take the shot there. Instead, Hoffman walked Call to load the bases, forcing the Blue Jays into facing Ohtani.
Manager John Schneider opted for the left-on-left matchup. On his way to the mound from the bullpen, Fluharty told himself, “no thinking too much in the moment, no thinking of the situation, just (go) out there and pitch.”
He did precisely that, winning a nine-pitch duel versus Ohtani with a pretty full-count chase sweeper for the inning’s second out before getting Betts on a fielder’s choice to lock down a 5-4 Blue Jays win.
Initially against Ohtani, “I wasn’t thinking strike out, honestly, I wanted a double play,” said Fluharty. “Strikeout is even cooler. But just trying to get an out there.”
Once he had the second out, he quickly reset for Betts, determined to “get the ball in.”
“We wanted to go backdoor early and then we wanted to bust him in,” he explained. “Luckily I did and got the ground ball. No thinking, just going out there and doing it.”
The unlikely escape made Fluharty’s first big-league save an especially memorable one, drawing praise from all around the club.
“Man, that’s so cool for him, navigating that situation and not backing down,” said Schneider. “Really, really cool environment for him to be in and have that success and then cool for him moving forward to kind of have that in his back pocket as a rep.”
Fluharty, just 23 years old and only 45 outings into his big-league career, believes the outing can be a springboard for him.
“I feel like now I really can believe in myself and it really gives me the confidence to just go be me and not think,” he said. “Moving forward, just keeping the same mentality, going out there and blacking out every time, hopefully, rolling with that. It just comes down to executing pitches, that’s all.”
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FRANCE FINDING A GROOVE: Blue Jays hitting coach David Popkins had some ideas for Ty France when he arrived from the Minnesota Twins, and the first baseman appreciated the way the club had “studied my swing and found some stuff that we’ve been working on really hard.”
A payoff for their collective efforts has started to come. Over the past four games, France has eight hits and two RBIs, including a run-scoring single in the sixth inning that helped start the Blue Jays’ comeback in Sunday’s 5-4 win.
The key adjustment, said France, “is a little movement with my load and my hands, trying to get them to climb up rather than push back is the big thing, up towards my head rather than back. If I go back, then my only movement is out and around and I wasn’t able to drive the ball the way I wanted. Now with that movement (up), it’s fine-tuning and focusing on that.”
A prime example of how the subtle shift helps came during Wednesday’s 20-1 beatdown of the Colorado Rockies, when in the eighth inning he shot a ball to the right side against hard-throwing Victor Vodnik.
“I haven’t done that a long time,” said France. “To be able to do that, that’s when I know my swing is in a good spot.”
Sunday’s single off Tyler Glasnow was also to the right side, a blooper that dropped in to score Bo Bichette and cut the Dodgers lead to 3-2. On Saturday he doubled and walked versus Blake Snell, while Friday he had singles off Clayton Kershaw and Blake Treinen.
“When I would pull the ball in play, it was top-spun, I wasn’t able to back-spin the ball to the pull side because I moved back, out and around,” said France. “Now I’m just trying to stay short and compact, but I use the middle of the field better.”
