Dave Roberts makes Dodgers even more hatable in best way with Teoscar Hernández quote

To understand why the Los Angeles Dodgers are the envy of the 29 other MLB teams, one need look no further than the top of their batting order. Unanimous American League MVP Shohei Ohtani bats leadoff, Mookie Betts hits second, Freddie Freeman slots in at third, and Teoscar Hernández bats in the cleanup spot.

But manager Dave Roberts made a calculated adjustment to his lineup ahead of Thursday’s home opener against the Detroit Tigers – and it paid off handsomely.

While keeping Ohtani and Betts in the No. 1 and No. 2 slots, respectively, Roberts swapped Freeman and Hernández in the batting order against Tigers left-hander Tarik Skubal. His reasoning for the change was actually quite simple.

Roberts knew that the Tigers would want Skubal to get through Hernández so that he could get a lefty-on-lefty matchup against Freeman. He also knew that getting through Hernández would be no small feat, even for the reigning American League Cy Young Award winner.

“There’s a Teoscar tax to get through Freddie the third time,” Roberts said (via Sonja Chen of MLB.com).

Dave Roberts makes Dodgers even more hatable in best way with Teoscar Hernández quote

Indeed, there was a Teoscar tax, and Skubal paid it. After grounding out and striking out against Skubal in his first two at-bats, Hernández took him deep for a three-run homer in the bottom of the fifth inning of what would end up being a 5-4 Dodgers win.

It was the second of three homers hit by Los Angeles in Thursday’s win. Tommy Edman crushed a solo shot in the second inning, and Ohtani hit one out in the seventh.

“Obviously, my homer was good,” Hernández said (via Chen). “But I think the most important was the Shohei one, because they scored two after my homer, and Shohei came up clutch and gave us [insurance] in that situation.”

While Hernández’s humility is admirable, it’s clear that the “Teoscar tax” was more lucrative than he was willing to admit. It ‘s also clear that Roberts and the Dodgers are playing chess, while the rest of the league is playing checkers.

The Teoscar Hernandez ‘tax’ that won the Dodgers their home opener vs. Tigers

The Los Angeles Dodgers remained perfect to start the 2025 campaign, picking up a hard-fought 5-4 win over the Detroit Tigers in their home opener on Thursday. Teoscar Hernandez delivered the big blow for the Dodgers, smacking a three-run home run in the bottom of the fifth inning that turned a 2-1 deficit into a 4-2 lead for Los Angeles.

With last season’s American League Cy Young winner, Tarik Skubal, on the hill for the Tigers, they wanted him to get through Hernandez so that he could get a lefty-on-lefty matchup against Freddie Freeman. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts knew that this is what his opponent would want to do, as he explained that there’s a “tax” involving Hernandez that is required to get to Freeman when facing his team’s lineup.

“There’s a Teoscar tax to get to Freddie a third time,’’ Roberts said before the Dodgers win over the Tigers. “It makes it tougher for a pitcher and manager to navigate (through) our lineup with Freddie facing a lefty.’’

Teoscar Hernandez, Dodgers continue hot start to 2025 campaign

The Dodgers kicked off the 2025 campaign by sweeping the Chicago Cubs in their two-game Tokyo Series, and they kept up the momentum with this win over the Tigers. Hernandez only has two hits in his first 12 at-bats, but he’s managed to make them court, as he’s already racked up the aforementioned home run and four runs batted in over his first three games.

Everyone expected Los Angeles to be absolutely dominant in 2025 thanks to their loaded roster, and through three games, they have lived up to the hype. There’s still a lot of work to be done, though, but Roberts’ comments about Hernandez show just how deep this team is. They will look to push their record to 4-0 on the season when they face off against the Tigers in the second game of their series on Friday night.