Dodgers notes: Kiké Hernández, Jacob Amaya

Kiké Hernández was introduced by the Red Sox on Tuesday, after his two-year, $14 million deal was finalized. The plan for him in Boston will include a lot of second base, but also time at several other positions as needed, which he proved adept at in his six years with the Dodgers.

Hernández figures to get more playing time with the Red Sox than he got in Los Angeles, where he averaged 418 plate appearances and 91 starts per 162 games over the last four seasons. That means he’ll face more right-handed hitters, against whom he owns a 82 wRC+, compared to 120 wRC+ against lefties.

Here’s Hernández, from Jen McCaffrey at The Athletic:

“My production against righties can definitely be closer to what it is against lefties. I think 2018 was the year that I actually got to have more reps on a consistent basis and I would say that was by far the best year of my career, so I do think that getting consistent at-bats on a daily basis, I think is going to help.”

In 2018, Hernández got his most playing time, with a career-high 462 plate appearances and 104 starts. That year, he hit .252/.338/.495, a 123 wRC+ against righties, and .260/.335/.445, a 113 wRC+ against lefties. But in 2019, Hernández got even more plate appearances against righties (284, vs. 237 the year before) and hit .221/.285/.403, an 81 wRC+ against them.

He’ll have a chance to turn that back around in 2021.

Welcome to big league camp, again

Jacob Amaya, a shortstop drafted in the 11th-round in 2017 out of high school in West Covina, was invited to Dodgers big league camp as a non-roster player, his agency announced on Monday.

Amaya was also a non-roster invitee last year in spring training, and was in the Dodgers’ player pool during 2020, spending time at the alternate training site at USC. He was named by MLB Pipeline as the Dodgers’ best defensive prospect this season. He’s 22.