Hernández proves more than super-utility player for Sox

Sep. 23—BOSTON — When Kiké Hernández signed with the Red Sox this past offseason, the expectations weren't very high. Hernández was best known as a super-utility player who played every position except catcher for the Los Angeles Dodgers, and the thought was he would fill a similar role with Boston as did Brock Holt.

While he got off to a slow start, Hernández eventually settled into his new role as an everyday player, and even his own teammates have been impressed by the impact he's made.

"I honestly was surprised by what type of player he is," Red Sox shortstop Xander Bogaerts said after Tuesday's game. "Obviously [the Dodgers] built up their roster pretty good and sometimes he wouldn't play as much, but I feel like him coming here and being able to play pretty much every day and knowing he was going to be at center field or second base, I feel like made him a bit more relaxed."

Since signing this past offseason for two years and $14 million, Hernández has been a steal for the Red Sox. The 30-year-old is enjoying the best season of his career and is on pace to surpass his career high in plate appearances by more than 100.

Entering Wednesday night's game against the Mets, Hernández was batting .251 with a .337 on-base percentage and .790 OPS, all well above his career averages, and had 18 home runs with 56 RBI. He's also set new career bests for hits (117), runs scored (80), doubles (34) and walks (55).

He's been especially good in the second half, posting a .869 OPS and effectively burying the early-season narrative that the Red Sox didn't have an adequate leadoff hitter.

"It's fun to watch him, especially when he's going good," Bogaerts said. "I remember a couple of weeks back here at home he was just teeing off on the ball and playing pepper with the left field Monster. He's been a tremendous addition to our team and he's been solid on both sides of the ball."

While not called upon to play every position like he had previously, Hernández's versatility has come in handy for the Red Sox. For much of the year, Hernández has delivered Gold Glove caliber defense at center field and has also seen significant time at second base.

All told, Hernández's contributions have been worth 4.1 Wins Above Replacement, which ranks third on the Red Sox behind only Bogaerts (5.0) and Nathan Eovaldi (4.8).

To put that into perspective, Brock Holt's career high for WAR was 2.7 his all-star season in 2015, and Hernández's 4.1 mark represents nearly half of Holt's nine-year career total.

Whatever the initial expectations, Hernández has clearly surpassed them and it's hard to imagine where the Red Sox would be this year without him. Now, after winning a World Series with the Dodgers last October, Hernández looks primed to help his new club make a run in October again.

Email: mcerullo@northofboston.com. Twitter: @MacCerullo.