Dodgers' Dave Roberts Announces Teoscar Hernandez Change Before Brewers Game
The Los Angeles Dodgers are heading into Game 2 of the NLCS against the Milwaukee Brewers with a chance to take a 2-0 series lead heading back home. The Dodgers have won their last two postseason games, yet the offense has struggled, scoring just two total runs in each matchup.
Teoscar Hernandez, who has primarily operated as the third hitter in the lineup this postseason, has failed to produce over the last three games, collecting just one hit in 12 at-bats.
The right-handed slugger had a down year at the plate in 2025, posting a .247 batting average, .284 on-base percentage, .738 OPS and 25 home runs in 134 games, yet the Dodgers have continued to give him opportunities due to his playoff success last year.
Ahead of Game 2 against the Brewers, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts decided to move Hernandez down in the batting order to sixth, with Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy and Will Smith all leapfrogging him in the lineup. While the move appeared to be due to Hernandez’s recent lack of production, Roberts explained the reasoning was strategic.
“I think just thinking about where they’re at as a staff,” Roberts said (h/t Dodger Blue). “They’re going to need length out of Freddy, so just to have Max in the five, I think it makes it a little bit more challenging.”
Roberts was referring to Freddy Peralta, Milwaukee’s ace and the starting pitcher for Game 2. Peralta is a right-handed arm, meaning that by moving up both Freeman and Muncy, it creates more favorable platoon matchups for Los Angeles and puts additional pressure on Peralta to execute and go deep into the game. Milwaukee will need length out of Peralta due to an overworked bullpen. Hernandez will still look to bounce back at the plate for Game 2 and lengthen the Dodgers’ lineup.
Hernandez is in his second season with the Dodgers. After signing a one-year deal prior to the 2024 season, the 32-year-old veteran fit right in and had an incredible year that ended in a World Series title.
As a result, the Dodgers’ front office inked him to a three-year contract extension worth $66 million. Although Hernandez has not produced at the same elite level this year, the Dodgers still remain confident in his ability to impact the game with one swing as they attempt to secure back-to-back World Series titles.
Lions Want to Even Out Workload Between Running Backs
Through six games, the Detroit Lions have had an uneven split in carries for running backs Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery.
Both backs are talented enough to be the feature back, but certain circumstances have dictated a slight disparity in action between the two running backs. Notably, Gibbs carried the ball 17 times on the ground in Week 6 while Montgomery had just four carries.
Gibbs has played 230 snaps this season, or 62 percent, while Montgomery has played 143 snaps, which equates to 39 percent of the team's action. On Monday, Lions coach Dan Campbell
For starters, Gibbs is in on a majority of two-minute packages which tends to lead to him getting plenty of consecutive snaps. The Lions still have been cautious as to not over-exert the young back, but he has currently been doing more of the work.
“Well, I think that’s something that I always try to look at. We certainly don’t want him – either one of them getting too much. But I know that it’s a little more tilted towards Jah right now. And a lot of that comes in the two-minute reps that we get," Campbell said. "Now the other day we only had six of them, but a lot of times that’s where that goes because he’s normally in on that and that can skew it. But I don’t feel like we’ve gotten Jah too much in a game yet necessarily. I think he like 36 or 37 snaps the other night. And so, I feel pretty good.
Moving forward, Campbell would like to generate a more even split between the two backs, as both have plenty to offer for the offense. However, each has a skill set that can be better for certain situations, which could dictate which option is utilized.
In ideal circumstances, the snap count and carry allotment would be closer to an even split. As the season rolls on, Campbell would like to see it get to that point as well.
"I would like to balance them out. I would. I would like to give David some more," Campbell said. "Find a place to get him a few more. And we were hoping we were going to be able to do that in the second half some more the other day, and it’s just kind of the way where the game went. We didn’t convert on a couple of those series. We get in fourth-and-10s, and that took away some of the runs and play-passes, and then we were in a different type of game at that point.”
