NL DIVISION SERIES: BRAVES VS DODGERS

October 7, 2026

Kike Hernandez

Truist Park

Los Angeles Dodgers

Pregame 4 Press Conference

Q. When you look at this match-up or even preparing for this match-up today going against Mahle, there's a little bit of familiarity that you guys have had with him. When you think about, though, the guy that the team saw early in the season in April compared to who he's been and the success he's had with the Braves, how do you guys go about preparing for this match-up today?

KIKÉ HERNÁNDEZ: I think it's all about taking good at-bats. For me personally I don't have that much experience against the guy. I faced him once and that was in 2019, which was a long time ago. He was a different pitcher back then.

But ever since he got acquired by Atlanta, he's been throwing the ball really well. The one thing I can tell you is that we're not underestimating the guy. He's throwing the ball really well.

We can't think of him as anything inferior than Sale, just take good at-bats, keep passing the baton and a full-unit, nine-guys-in-the-lineup attack instead of just one guy going at it. Focus on getting good at-bats and hopefully we'll get good results.

Q. Yama last night mentioned when you went to the mound in the fifth inning, you were firing him up, maybe there was a dirty word in there. How do you feel out those moments when you want to go to mound, especially with him, to kind of give him some confidence? And just how much does that kind of speak to the relationship you guys have built the last couple of years?

KIKÉ HERNÁNDEZ: I think a keyword that you said in there was "relationships." And when you're part of a locker room, you need to create relationships and you need to get to know your teammates in the sense of you need to know what kind of gets to each individual, what kind of resonates with that person, what they need and when they need things like that.

In that moment, I didn't necessarily think he needed it. I just wanted to reassure to him that, hey, this is your game. There's nobody warming up. It's you. This is your game. We trust in you. You've done it in the past and we know you're going to get out of this. Just don't put too much pressure on yourself and keep going.

Q. Does he know American or English cuss words?

KIKÉ HERNÁNDEZ: American, yeah, he speaks American. He speaks American.

(Laughter).

Yoshi is one of the smartest guys I've ever been around. I've played with a fair amount of Japanese players throughout my career, and, like, the dedication that he puts into his craft, he puts that much work and effort into English classes.

This guy is taking English classes before and after games. When nobody's seeing him, he goes home and he takes English lessons. And you can pretty much have a conversation with him. Of course, there's gonna be certain times where you're gonna need Google Translator to come in. But for the most part, you can have a full-on conversation with him. And you might have to sometimes slow play your conversation, but he understands and he speaks enough.

Q. The point about the relationships, you've been with this group of guys for countless big moments in October. How do you see the collective focus shift in must-win games like yesterday, and how will it carry through the rest of October?

KIKÉ HERNÁNDEZ: Yeah, I think when there's that trust within each other, when there's that care factor, like not only for the team but for each other as human beings -- especially what we've gone through the last two years -- not everybody was here in 2023. So the guys that are here remember what that felt like.

And then '24 and '25, everybody talks about the run that we went on, whatever. But we saw ourselves with our backs against the wall twice in very rowdy atmospheres, and we were able to overcome that.

I think when, as a group, you go through all of these things, you start believing in each other, and you don't ever believe that there's a mountain that's too big to climb. And when you have faith in and belief that the guy -- that if you don't get it done the guy behind you is gonna get it done, it eases up the pressure factor and things like that.

Because you know that if you don't come through your teammate's gonna come through because it's kind of, like, been there, done that. And that's where our unity comes from.

Q. You talked about the team approach last night. Did it feel like you guys tapped into something that can really, some version of that can work against any pitcher in this postseason?

KIKÉ HERNÁNDEZ: I mean, that's something that our lineup, for years, has taken pride in. That's been our identity. Of course, we have some big names in lineup, and everybody forgets about, everybody looks at the homers and things like that. And it's easy to forget what the identity of the lineup is when you've got so many names in our lineup.

But that's something that for a very long time we've taken pride in. This year it was kind of one those years where it kind of -- for a lot of reasons, a lot of injuries going on, a lot of ups and downs -- but we weren't as good this year of doing that over the course of the regular season. But I think what we did last night is what our lineup is capable of doing.

It was a good sign. And hopefully we can build off of it.

Q. With Edwin Diaz this year, we know whether it's been injuries, just some ups and downs, for him to pick up the save last night, you obviously have a very special relationship, friendship with him. What was that like for you to see?

KIKÉ HERNÁNDEZ: Huge. It's amazing. I haven't had -- throughout my entire career, here in LA, I haven't had a chance to play with too many Puerto Rican guys. I got to do that to do that with a few of them in Boston.

But there's so few of us in the league that to think that in 13 years in the league and you've only played with, like, maybe a handful of guys, it's kind of crazy.

For us, a lot of us, not me and Sugar especially because we're not the same age, but I've known Sugar since before he got drafted. My dad coached him in travel ball right before the draft and all those things. So I've been knowing about him and knowing him, admiring his career very proudly from afar.

And to be able to have one of your guys on your team is special. And I'm really proud of what he has to -- what he's gone through. And this year it's a very, very difficult year, and it's very easy to just put the year aside and, like, not really give up on the year, but he worked his ass off to get to this point.

And for him it was, like for some guys it's just a matter of mentality shift. And for him it was just one slight mechanical adjustment that he needed to do that he didn't realize until his second-to-last outing in his last rehab assignment.

And that's all we needed him to feel like he felt good throwing the baseball and now his confidence is back. When he's on, he's as good a closer as anybody in baseball. So that's kind of what we're seeing right now.