The Red Sox re-signed one of their pending free agents this week. No, it wasn’t Xander Bogaerts or Rafael Devers, but Kiké Hernandez.
He may not be one of the biggest names in Boston, but the outfielder could be a key part in the Red Sox taking a step in the right direction next season.
Hernandez revealed what went into his decision to re-sign with the Red Sox as shared by Audacy’s “The Bradfo Sho” podcast.
“This is a place where I want to be and being able to get it done this early and not have to go through free agency again. I experienced it once, it was not that much fun anymore. I’m excited to stay,” Hernandez said (2:50 in player above). “I know that there are a lot of questions surrounding the team and the offseason and I hope I’m the first key piece to the team that’s going to come back so we can be better next year.”
The Red Sox not only have the left side of the infield in Devers and Bogaerts as pending free agents, but Nathan Eovaldi, Michael Wacha, and J.D. Martinez as well.
Hernandez has battled through injuries that have limited to 69 games thus far. He’s batting .217, which would be the second-lowest mark in his career.
“You can think of many things in your control and this and that but you kind of forget, you take for granted health sometimes. This year has been probably the most challenging year for me as far as health and not being able to either perform or just be on the field and missing the most time by far that I’ve ever missed in my career, it was very challenging in many ways. Seeing the team struggle, I wasn’t really thinking about what was going to happen next year. I was just thinking about what way can I get back on the field and hopefully help the guys figure out a way to put ourselves in the playoff mix again. Here we are with 20-something games left, as long as we’re not eliminated by math, there’s going to be hope and I think we still have the potential to get on a really good streak here and hopefully make things interesting the last couple of weeks.”
If the Red Sox can’t make a miraculous comeback in the final weeks, Hernandez knows that the team will be way better next season. That’s what Chaim Bloom told him, at least.
“He knows where I stand. He knows that the most important thing for me is not just the opportunity to play every day but how much it means for me to play every day for a winning team,” he said. “I’m not going to say he promised me, but he promised me that we’re going to be way better next year.”
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