Kiké Hernández Makes History as Dodgers Position Player Pitches in 6th Inning Against Padres

When Kiké Hernández took the mound in the bottom of the sixth inning on June 10, 2025, at Petco Park in San Diego, he didn’t just break a record—he rewrote a rulebook expectation. The Los Angeles Dodgers were down 9-0. Their bullpen was spent. And Hernández, a 33-year-old Dominican outfielder-infielder who’d never thrown a single pitch in a regular-season MLB game before, was handed the ball. He ended up pitching 2⅓ innings. Allowing one run. Striking out one. And becoming the first position player in the Dodgers’ 142-year history to enter a game that early under such extreme circumstances. It wasn’t just unusual. It was historic.

Why Now? The Bullpen Crisis

The Dodgers didn’t choose this path because they wanted to. They chose it because they had to. With Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts, and Teoscar Hernández already pulled after the top of the sixth, manager Dave Roberts faced a brutal reality: his relief corps was on fumes. Michael Kopech, a key late-inning arm, had pitched two days prior. Another reliever, Justin Wrobleski, was scheduled to start the next day—but had a 7.20 ERA in just three MLB appearances this season, mostly shuttling between the majors and Triple-A Oklahoma City. "You just got to look at where our pen is at," Roberts said afterward. "It wasn’t smart to chase and redline guys." MLB rules permit position players to pitch only when a team is trailing by eight or more runs. The Padres crossed that threshold with two outs in the sixth, giving Roberts the green light. But entering a game that early—before the seventh inning, before the game was truly out of reach—was unprecedented for the Dodgers. The team had used position players to pitch before, but never this early, never with a 9-run deficit still unfolding.

A Moment of Awkwardness

The atmosphere at Petco Park turned surreal. Fans booed—not at the Dodgers, but at the situation. The Padres, who were locked in a tight battle for first place in the National League West, weren’t celebrating. Their manager, Mike Shildt, kept his players on the bench, avoiding any show of disrespect. Meanwhile, Hernández, wearing No. 14, warmed up slowly, visibly nervous. He threw 34 pitches. Got two groundouts. Struck out Ha-Seong Kim on a slider. Allowed a double to Jurickson Profar. Then, with two outs in the eighth, he was pulled for Tyler Glasnow, who had been activated off the injured list just hours earlier.

"It doesn’t feel good," Roberts admitted. "It’s very awkward. But it’s baseball. And sometimes, you do what you have to do to win the next five games." The decision sparked immediate backlash. Former San Diego Padres All-Star Wil Myers, who played for the team from 2015 to 2021, posted on X: "6th inning for a position player pitching seems a bit much, regardless of the score." The sentiment echoed among analysts. "This isn’t a spring training exhibition," said ESPN’s Buster Olney on air. "You’re talking about a franchise that values tradition. This crosses a line." But Roberts wasn’t alone in his thinking. The Dodgers own a 10-game stretch against division rivals, seven of them against the Padres. With the division lead hanging by a thread, preserving arms for the next six matchups was a cold, hard calculus. "It’s not about tonight," Roberts said. "It’s about July 1st."

The Bigger Picture: A Franchise at a Crossroads

The Los Angeles Dodgers, owned by Guggenheim Baseball Management, have long prided themselves on stability, discipline, and respect for the game’s traditions. Using a position player to pitch in the sixth inning? That’s the kind of move you’d expect from a last-place team in September—not a contender in June. But this isn’t a normal season. The Dodgers’ bullpen has logged the most innings in the National League. Their top three relievers have each pitched in five of the last seven games. Wrobleski, the scheduled starter for Wednesday, is a 25-year-old with a 7.20 ERA. He’s not ready. And no one else is either.

This isn’t the first time a team has turned to a position player under duress. In 2023, the Texas Rangers used utilityman Isiah Kiner-Falefa to pitch in the eighth inning of a 12-run loss. In 2021, Cody Bellinger threw an inning for the Dodgers in a 15-1 blowout against the Giants. But those were ninth-inning, late-game gambles. This was early. Aggressive. Strategic.

What Comes Next?

The Dodgers won’t play the Padres again until June 18. By then, Wrobleski will have had five days to rest. Kopech will be fully rested. The bullpen will have had two full days off. But the damage is done—in perception, if not in performance. Fans are divided. Some call it genius. Others call it disrespectful. The league hasn’t commented, but insiders say MLB may revisit the position-player pitching rule, especially if more teams start using it as a tactical tool rather than a last resort.

For now, Hernández’s name is etched into the Dodgers’ record book—not for a home run, not for a stolen base, but for something no one else has ever done. He didn’t win the game. He didn’t save the season. But he bought his team time. And in baseball, time is everything.

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