Teoscar Hernandez Selected as Player Most in Need of a Breakout

Bleacher Report’s Kerry Miller named Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernandez as the player the team most desperately needs to break out.

Hernandez has a .697 OPS through his 38 games this season, but he got off to a fantastic start to the year. He was one of the Dodgers’ best hitters through the first six series of the season, hitting four homers and posting an OPS above .900.

Since then, though, Hernandez—as well as most of the rest of the team—has struggled to produce on offense.

“There’s a strong case to be made for Roki Sasaki in this spot, but the Dodgers would still have one heck of a strong rotation if they removed him from the mix,” Miller wrote. “Conversely, they pretty well need Hernández in left, and he has been arguably the weakest link of this offense.

“He was great early on, with four home runs and a .918 OPS during LA’s 14-4 start to the season. But since then? Hernández has no dingers and a .512 OPS while the Dodgers have gone 10-14.”

The corner outfielder has shown signs of improvement over the past few games, though, recording multiple hits in two of his last three. He went 2-for-3 in the Dodgers’ series opener against the San Francisco Giants on Monday, and had two more hits and an RBI—his first since April 27—in their 4-0 win over the Giants on Wednesday.

Mar 12, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez against the Cincinnati Reds during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Can Teoscar Hernández Bounce Back From His Rough Start?

While his numbers recently have been promising, Hernandez’s batted ball profile surprisingly doesn’t show much encouragement.

Hernandez hovers around league average this season in just about every stat cast category, the outliers being average exit velocity and chase percentage which sit around 70th percentile. That being said, the outfielder often begins to get things going in the second half of the season.

His first season with the Dodgers came in 2024, and his numbers after the All-Star break that season trounced his already stellar numbers in the first half. He had a .902 OPS after the midsummer classic that year, hitting 14 of his 33 homers in just 59 games.

His OPS took a minor hit towards the end of the 2025 season, but he still exhibited plenty of power in the second half of the season He hit 11 homers after the All-Star Break last year, nearly tying his first half tally of 14 in 20 fewer games.

While these aren’t concrete indicators that Hernandez can bounce back, they indicate he tends to settle in and find more power towards the back end of the season. The Dodgers will hope he can hit that bump earlier than usual this year, as they’re currently in a precarious situation in the NL West and need to string wins together if they want to remain near the top.

They currently sit 0.5 games behind the San Diego Padres in the NL West, and will hope a Hernandez resurgence can help them reclaim their spot.

Do you think Teoscar Hernández will bounce back this season?

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