Once reluctant, Kiké now among best in OF

BOSTON -- Kiké Hernández didn’t even want to play center field when the 2021 season began.

Crazy, right?

Given how boisterous he’s been while playing defense in the American League Championship Series, especially when making some incredibly flashy plays, it’s hard to believe that Hernández had pause at the idea of playing there regularly six months ago.

Second base was the gig he agreed to when he signed with Boston last offseason, and given that he would finally get an everyday opportunity -- something that eluded him in six seasons with the Dodgers -- he had lofty ambitions.

“At first, I wasn't quote-unquote ‘thrilled’ with the fact that I was playing center field every day,” Hernández told MLB.com. “People have goals and stuff like that, and one of my goals coming into the season was thinking that I was finally going to get a chance to play second base every day. I was like, ‘This might be my chance to win a Gold Glove over there.’ But also, the fact that I've never played outfield every day before, and my legs were starting to get tired and things like that.”

Thanks to Hernández’s willingness and work ethic, the Red Sox have plugged the massive defensive void left by Jackie Bradley Jr., one of the Majors’ best when he was here, and Hernández has found a home -- not just geographically in Boston, but positionally, as the anchor of the Red Sox outfield.

“We had one of the best defensively in 2018 and '19, and he is still great -- Jackie,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “This kid, [Hernández], is up there with them, with the best of the best defensively, and we are very proud of him.”

This story begins with a reluctant Hernández and an uncertain Cora. So, let’s start there:

“I was wrong in Spring Training”
When camp opened, Cora said he was wrong about two things: 1) Hernández would be the regular second baseman, and 2) if Hernández were to play the outfield, he’d profile better in left given the roster construction; Alex Verdugo’s arm was better tailored for center.

But things changed quickly. Christian Arroyo emerged and warranted everyday playing time, and his defense at second was above average. Given that Hernández was the Dodgers’ most versatile weapon en route to the 2020 World Series title, and that he could play all over, Boston began deploying him in center.

“It was eye-opening,” Cora said. “That first step is amazing. The instincts, the arm, the decisions, the communication -- we can keep going on and on.”

But Hernández had to quickly overcome the pause he had at the outset.

“I understood that it made our team better,” Hernández said. “It gave us a better chance to win, and that's all I want. I want to win, and that’s all I know now. I embraced it at first, and then, it became a blast.”

Fenway’s “wall is eating me up”
It wasn’t just the transition, but the venue, that presented such a challenge. Fenway Park is a hitter’s haven and a center fielder’s nightmare with its quirky dimensions.

To Hernández's right sits the Green Monster and an endless amount of trajectories that balls can take off its 37-foot façade. To his left sit the bullpens, separated from the playing surface by a five-foot fence that one can easily tumble over. Directly behind him is the right-center triangle, where any ball that drops in is typically a guaranteed triple.

Hernández said that such dimensions may play a factor in his route running, which is the only metric he ranks poorly -- and one he wants to improve.

“My first step, I’m always moving,” Hernández said. “I'm trying to be moving before the ball gets hit. I'm just creating momentum, and I guess, based on my sabermetrics, my routes are never super efficient. But to me, the most important thing is my first step and my reaction, because I'm probably in the bottom percentile of center fielder speed, so I know I depend big time on my first step and my jump. I always think that if I have a good jump, a good first step, I can make up for a not-so-great route.”

“I would start hearing about my defensive numbers”
In this analytical age, Hernández keeps a keen eye on his metrics. But he digests them simplistically -- what’s good and what’s bad? And it’s been mostly good.

Hernández’s defensive metrics, 2021 (rank among center fielders)
Outs above average: 5 (seventh)
5-star catches (catch probability 25% or lower): 5 (first)
Success rate added to catches: 4% (fourth)
Defensive runs saved: 14 (third)
Ultimate zone rating: 7.4 (fifth)

“The biggest thing, for me, is taking my infield approach to the outfield,” Hernández said. “As a middle infielder, you learn how to read the swing, the contact point, and something that I do is I study what our pitchers like to throw based on where the catcher is setting up, and if they execute that pitch based on what pitch type and pitch location, what type of contact they get. That helps me. That allows me to anticipate where the ball is going to be hit before [it's hit], just by looking at the catcher -- where he's setting up -- or just tracking the trajectory of the pitch. It gives me an idea of where the pitch is going to be hit.”

And that arm? “I've always had it, man”
When looking at Hernández’s flashiest plays this year, nearly all of them involve his heaves to the infield. Hernández averaged 89.8 mph on max-effort throws (the top 10% of a player's sample) in the regular season, the 15th-best mark in the Majors. He also had a 97.5 mph throw on a sacrifice fly in Game 1 that came up just short, a velocity that matched Chris Sale’s fastest pitch of that game.

“You ask anybody that's played with me, they can all attest to my arm,” Hernández said. “It’s just, when you don't play on an everyday basis, there's a lot of things that you don't get to show. And it’s not like I was never playing in L.A., but … if that day that I played there was not a chance to show off the arm or whatever it was, then people didn't know about it.”

And therein lies what Hernández set out to do this season, beyond just his glove -- prove himself.

“Everything that I’m doing has always been there, man,” he said. “I think that I've progressed as my career has gone on. I've gotten better at a lot of things, but I'm also getting to know myself a lot better as a player now that I'm playing more, and I think that's been the biggest difference.”