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PHOENIX — There will be a Dodgers player on one of the teams in the World Baseball Classic on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. With Puerto Rico’s win over the United States on Friday night, Kiké Hernandez and crew won Pool F and clinched a berth in the semifinals.
Puerto Rico will play Netherlands on Monday night at Dodger Stadium, which means we could conceivably see Hernandez face teammate Kenley Jansen in that game. The winner on Monday night will advance to the championship game on Wednesday night, also in Los Angeles.
Japan will play the other semifinal on Tuesday, playing the winner of Saturday night’s showdown between the United States and Dominican Republic.
Hernandez struck out as a pinch-hitter on Friday against Team USA and played the final three innings in center field in Puerto Rico’s 6-5 victory. The utility man has played in three of Puerto Rico’s five games in the WBC, and is 3-for-6 with a triple, two RBI and a run scored.
See you soon LA!
— Enrique Hernández (@kikehndez) March 18, 2017
Sería borincano aunque naciera en la luna! Dímelo bebo!!! @robperez2015 https://t.co/Oto7S2dNAN pic.twitter.com/a8cFWfUj1a
— Enrique Hernández (@kikehndez) March 18, 2017
Jansen was still at Dodgers camp on Saturday morning, though he plans to meet up with Team Netherlands later in the day. Netherlands plays an exhibition against the Diamondbacks on Sunday at Salt River Fields, then will fly to Los Angeles.
Monday night will be Jansen’s first time ever in the visitors clubhouse at Dodger Stadium. He said he joked with Dodgers marketing chief Lon Rosen for most of 2016 that the visitors clubhouse would be his future locker room at Dodger Stadium, before returning on a five-year, $80 million contract in January.
Asked if he had a scouting report for Hernandez, who he has never faced, Jansen — who threw his cutter 88% of the time in 2016, per Brooks Baseball — smiled.
“He knows what’s coming,” Jansen said. “Everyone in the stadium knows what’s coming.”