NL CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES: DODGERS VS BREWERS

October 17, 2025

Kike Hernandez

Dodger Stadium

Los Angeles Dodgers

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. I was just asking some of your teammates and Dave, do you guys feel like you're sort of in the Mamba mentality again? Does it feel like last year? How does it feel?

KIKÉ HERNÁNDEZ: I mean, you could say that. I think every postseason teaches you a lot. Every series, whether it's a five-game or a seven-game, feels like a month long. There's a lot of learning within each series.

And, for us, I feel like we've gone through a lot together as a group. There's people who were here in 2020. There's people who were here last year. And there's new guys that have bought in and are all in with the mentality and the goal, the final goal, which is to win a World Series.

I think we're going into today just like any other day in October, thinking it's a must-win game because that's how we feel about it.

Q. You mentioned earlier about just learning lessons. Obviously each series is different. What are some of the lessons that you feel like you all learned, especially having the opportunity to close out this series tonight?

KIKÉ HERNÁNDEZ: I mean, we've learned that our starting pitching is really good. It's the experience within each game. I think we're a battle-tested group that really believes in each other and cares about each other.

In the past we've had maybe some pressure to perform or whatnot. But we've gone through so much as a group that you just know that at the end of the day things are going to be all right and we're going to find a way to win.

So even if you're not performing, you trust that the guy that comes in behind you is going to get the job done. As long as we're winning games, nothing else matters. And that's kind of the mentality that we've acquired. And we're going to keep with it.

Q. As a guy who is labeled as a utility guy, to see your teammate, Mookie, doing what he's done to get to the position he's at, what is that to like to experience as a teammate, in terms of his progress, for lack of a better term? And have you learned anything from the way he's gone about his, in terms of how you're done your thing as well?

KIKÉ HERNÁNDEZ: Honestly, I haven't really learned anything. We're talking about Mookie Betts, these are things you expect. He's such a gifted athlete that he does what he does, and you're, like, I'm not surprised.

I don't think I've seen him be bad at anything when it comes to sports. He's an elite athlete at four sports. But to be able to go from right field to short and play it at such a high elite level with no experience whatsoever other than -- I don't know how many games he played last year, but that's about it; the most important position on the field -- it's still really impressive.

You kind of take it for granted. You see the level that he's played at all year long defensively, and you kind of take it for granted and you forget that he's kind of new at the position. And you forget how long he played in the outfield.

From a guy that plays everywhere, the game in the outfield is a lot slower than the game in the infield. For me, sometimes that's why I was able -- I played infield my entire life, and it wasn't until like Triple-A that I started playing outfield.

To me, playing infield my whole life is why the outfield became easy because the game is that much slower back there. You basically play infield back there.

When it's the other way around, I've had times where I've played a lot of outfield, and then I haven't played infield in about a month. And I have to go back to the infield, and the game feels a lot faster.

For him to be able to do what he's done after all these years, to play a new position like that, and in my opinion he's got to win the Gold Glove. I don't think anybody was more valuable in that position on the defensive side of things. And it's just not a coincidence that his initials are MLB.

Q. Last year, you guys faced somewhat of a long layoff between your last regular season game and the NLDS. In the spirit of learning things, did you guys take anything from what you guys did during that time -- how quickly you were able to just bounce back, pick up where you left off and went all the way to the World Series -- that could be applied in the future, say, if you have another long layoff coming?

KIKÉ HERNÁNDEZ: Haven't thought about it. I'll think about it when we get there. For now, we have a game tonight that we're trying to win. And that's all I'm thinking about. I'm not really thinking about what would happen if we win tonight. I'm just thinking about winning tonight.

Q. After today, you're going to be one behind Justin Turner for most postseason games in Dodgers history. Wondering what has it meant to you be part of so many of this extended run they've had?

KIKÉ HERNÁNDEZ: Humbled, fortunate. This is not just any franchise, man. This is the LA Dodgers. They've been around for a long time, and they have a lot of history. And for a guy like me from Puerto Rico, kind of swam against the current my entire life, to be sitting in this position is pretty special.

But at the same time, I haven't really wanted to reflect too much on it because there's going to be a time for that once I'm done playing, and I'm going to have a lot of years to reflect on it.

But for now, I'm just, I mean, as cool as that is and I'm going to take that to the grave with me, I'm just focused on today.

And it will be cool if my name is up there with the most Dodger World Series ever. But to be creeping up on playing the most playoff games as a Dodger is something that I never really dreamed of or thought that would happen.

That's something that is pretty special and I wasn't really aware of it until you just said that. So that's why I'm caught a little off guard, sorry.