Kiké Hernández has looked like a brand-new player over much of the last month.
Turns out, his brand-new eyeglasses might be partially to thank.
In a subtle change that has had a profound impact on his once-slumping season, Hernández started wearing glasses during the Dodgers’ last series before the mid-July All-Star break.
The reason: A recent diagnosis of astigmatism in his right eye.
The discovery, Hernández said Sunday, originated from a conversation he had earlier this year with one of his friends in the sport, veteran MLB catcher Martín Maldonado.
“He told me that him and a couple of his teammates needed glasses, and they didn’t really know through the spring training test,” Hernández said.
The comment set off a light bulb for Hernández, who struggled mightily during the first half of the season while struggling to distinguish breaking balls out of pitchers’ hands.
“They went through a more thorough test [to learn they needed glasses],” Hernández said, referring back to his discussion with Maldonado. “So I was like, ‘All right, I’m gonna try it out.’”
Lo and behold, Hernández learned his right eye had astigmatism, a condition caused by imperfections in the curvature of the eye that can result in blurred vision.
So, starting with the Dodgers’ first-half finale in Detroit last month, Hernández began wearing glasses during games — sporting white-framed spectacles with a prescription lens in the right eye.
Had Hernández ever worn glasses in games before?
“First time in my life,” he said.
Initially, Hernández was thrown off by the “weird” depth perception his new eyewear created. But after hitting a home run on July 13, he recognized he was starting to see the ball better.
Hernández continued adjusting to his glasses during the All-Star break, keeping them planted on his face while he was away from the field. And ever since then, the 32-year-old has looked revitalized.
In the first half of the season, Hernández batted just .191 with 45 strikeouts and 15 RBIs.
In 20 second-half games so far, he is hitting .278 with just 18 strikeouts and 11 RBIs — including a tying double in the 10th inning on Sunday that gave him his fourth three-hit game of the season.
Three of those three-hit performances have come since the glasses arrived.
“It’s funny because he wasn’t seeing spin, and we were trying to figure out what it was,” manager Dave Roberts said. “So once he put the glasses on, he’s seeing it a lot better, and it actually coincides with him, in my opinion, swinging the bat better, controlling the strike zone and making better swing decisions.”
The breakthrough came at an important point in the Dodgers season.
For much of the last two months, Hernández has been pressed into everyday playing time, starting at third base with Max Muncy on the injured list. That has meant regular at-bats against right-handed pitching, a career-long weakness for the right-handed hitter.
With clearer eyesight, though, has come more competitive trips to the plate.
Hernández’s clutch 10th-inning double on Sunday, for example, came against right-handed reliever David Bednar, on a late-breaking splitter that caught too much of the plate.
“I see him grinding against right-handed pitching,” Roberts said. “He’s not just giving away in those spots. He’s fighting, he’s spoiling pitches and he’s coming up with some big hits.”
Hernández has made other adjustments at the plate in recent weeks, shortening up his swing and getting in “better positions” in his stance. He noted last week that his everyday playing time has helped iron out his mechanics, as well.
“Just kind of going back to basics,” he said. “Not trying to do too much, not thinking too much.”
Still, as much as anything, Hernández acknowledged he is simply “seeing the ball better.”
In baseball parlance, that phrase is typically a figure of speech.
For the newly bespectacled Hernández, however, it’s been a literal breakthrough that has helped resurrect his season.
“I guess I needed them,” he said with a matter-of-fact grin. “It’s working. So I’ll take it.”