The Los Angeles Dodgers are a first-place team. They’re World Series contenders with one of the most expensive, top-heavy rosters in baseball history. But you wouldn’t have known that watching Tuesday night’s 11-1 meltdown against the San Diego Padres. Because long before the ninth inning, the Dodgers did something even more damaging than losing—they gave up.
Down 9-0 in the bottom of the sixth, with the game spiraling and the bullpen taxed, manager Dave Roberts sent Kiké Hernández to the mound. Not for mop-up duty. Not in the ninth. But to pitch the final 2.1 innings of a blowout loss that had already reached its boiling point. It was the earliest use of a true position player as a pitcher in Dodgers history, and while Hernández has worn many hats (and now a padded protective helmet) during his time in L.A., the novelty is long gone.
At this point, it’s just embarrassing.
When a Forfeit Feels Preferable
MLB has no mercy rule, but the Dodgers essentially invoked one themselves. The signal was clear: the game wasn’t worth fighting for. The optics were brutal. A storied franchise waved the white flag before the seventh-inning stretch while Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Teoscar Hernández watched from the bench.
“We had a couple chances early,” Roberts admitted postgame. “But I think when the game got away, you could just see things flip.” Flip is putting it nicely. Fold is more like it.
Yes, the Dodgers are decimated by injuries. Yes, they’re managing a fragile pitching staff. But this isn’t the Rockies. It’s not the White Sox. This is the Dodgers—a team built to win, expected to compete, and funded by billions. Punting winnable games isn’t supposed to be part of the script.
Kiké Hernández’s Heroics No Longer Funny
Kiké Hernández, bless his utility soul, has now made three pitching appearances in 2025. He actually leads all Dodgers position players in innings pitched this season. His ERA is a tidy 2.08, which is more of an indictment of usage than a testament to performance. On Tuesday, he allowed one earned run across 2.1 innings, keeping things from getting even uglier. But at what point do the Dodgers stop treating bullpen preservation as a higher priority than basic competitive dignity?
Once upon a time, Hernández’s mound cameos were amusing. Fans laughed. Teammates chuckled. He even drew comparisons to Shohei Ohtani for the sake of memes. Now, it just feels sad. L.A. isn’t short on pitchers because of bad luck. They’re short because they’ve relied too heavily on band-aids, gambled on bounce-backs like Blake Snell, and rushed prospects like Matt Sauer into disaster.
Even FOX analyst Ben Verlander called it out, posting, “Kiké Hernandez pitching with a pitcher’s helmet on the 1st time when they were winning was funny. It happening now in the 6th inning in a blowout to your rival is… embarrassing.”
Dodgers Look to Reinforcements—But Can They Wait?
There is some light ahead. Ohtani may pitch before the All-Star break. Blake Snell is back throwing bullpens. But that’s not a rotation plan—that’s a hope and a prayer. In the meantime, Roberts is rolling out relievers like Lou Trivino as openers and then sending rookies like Sauer to the wolves. That’s not management. That’s damage control.
Hernández pitching the sixth inning of a game in June shouldn’t be a necessity. It shouldn’t even be an option. And when it becomes the go-to strategy, it’s not clever—it’s surrender.
Reputation Is on the Line
The Dodgers have more than playoff seeding at stake this summer. Their identity is under review. Are they still the ruthless juggernaut that ran the NL West for a decade? Or are they a fragile contender, too hurt, too cautious, and too willing to roll over?
Tuesday’s debacle at Petco Park didn’t just damage their run differential—it chipped away at their aura. Because while every team loses games, not every team quits on them.
And if the Dodgers can’t stop punting on winnable nights, the real embarrassment won’t be one blowout in June. It’ll be how this season ends.
