Every player who reaches the highest level of the sport experiences their own “Welcome to the big leagues” moment—the sudden realization that playing in the Majors is a completely different animal.
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For Dodgers utility man and fan favorite Kiké Hernández, that awakening didn’t come from a single play. It had more to do with the players themselves. After making his MLB debut with the Astros in July 2014, Hernández quickly discovered just how incredibly, incredibly intense big leaguers can be.
As Hernández shared with Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard on the latest episode of *The 6-1-1 Podcast*, he recalls facing Red Sox starters John Lackey and Jake Peavy on back-to-back days while with Houston—two pitchers who never shied away from showing their fire during a game.
Hernández remembers having solid at-bats against both former All-Stars, taking close pitches just off the corner. But apparently, Lackey and Peavy weren’t too pleased with Hernández’s patience at the plate.
“They were trying to get me to chase and all that, and for two straight games, these guys were yelling at me from the mound,” Hernández said. “And I was like, ‘What’s going on, man?’ No one had ever really yelled at me from the mound before. Here are these two really old guys just angry at life mad at me because I won’t swing at balls.”
The intensity on the field ramped up even more for Hernández during his first trip to Philadelphia that September as a member of the Marlins. He remembers standing on second base and trying to make small talk midgame with Phillies second baseman Chase Utley. Rollins and Howard immediately burst out laughing, knowing from years of experience that it was a terrible idea.
“I said, ‘What’s up?’ and it was one of the first times in my life that someone looked me right in the eyes but looked straight through me and didn’t say a single word,” Hernández said.
“We understand,” Rollins replied.
“That sounds about right,” Howard added.
Hernández continued: “And I just thought, ‘What is wrong with you, man?’”
But Hernández would eventually see Utley’s kinder side after the two became teammates on the Dodgers in 2015.
“Little did I know that a couple years later, I’d be calling him ‘Dad,’” he said.
Be sure to check out the full 52-minute episode for more of Hernández’s entertaining conversation with Rollins and Howard. *The 6-1-1 Podcast* is available on MLB.com, MLB.TV, YouTube, and all podcast platforms.
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