Make California Post a Preferred Source Move over, Reggie Jackson. There’s a new Mr. October.
Maybe prior to their World Series run inside the bubble in 2020, people could call Kiké Hernández’s postseason success a “hot streak.”
But now he’s passed the point of it just being a hot streak, success in the playoffs is now a part of his identity.
The Dodgers’ Swiss Army knife delivered another postseason haymaker Tuesday night, launching a two-run homer off Braves ace Chris Sale in the fourth inning of Los Angeles’ 3-1 victory in Game 3 of the NLDS.
It was Hernández’s 17th career postseason home run, moving him into the top 20 in MLB history and leaving him just one behind the original “Mr. October,” Reggie Jackson.
Careful, Reggie. Kiké is coming for your crown.
The homer also produced a statistic that perfectly captures one of baseball’s strangest October transformations. According to OptaStats, Hernández is the only player in MLB history with at least 100 career homers — regular season and postseason combined — to have at least 10 percent of them come in the playoffs.
That’s ridiculous for a player with a career .706 regular-season OPS.
In October? Hernández owns an .826 OPS and seemingly transforms whenever the calendar flips and the champagne gets cold.
Hernández himself has joked that it’s because he “likes Halloween,” but the reality is he’s admitted that in October he’s able to harness his Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) into a state of hyper-focus that allows him to lock in and perform at an elite level.
“We needed a little bit of that Kiké dust,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said after the win in Atlanta on Tuesday.
They got it in Game 3 when they needed it the most.
Batting ninth and making his first start of these playoffs, Hernández jumped on Sale’s second pitch of the fourth and changed the game with one swing. Even Sale admitted afterward it was the one pitch he wanted back.
Hernández now has 12 postseason homers as a Dodger, fourth-most in franchise history, and one behind Corey Seager and Justin Turner for second.
And if No. 18 arrives this October, Hernández will pull even with Jackson.
Maybe baseball needs to start having an uncomfortable conversation about who gets to borrow that “Mr. October” nickname.
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