The Los Angeles Dodgers entered the 2026 season as the most feared team in baseball—and for good reason. Fresh off a 2025 World Series championship, they added Edwin Díaz and Kyle Tucker in free agency, and a blistering 15-4 start made a repeat title seem like a foregone conclusion. But the script has flipped.

Now trailing the San Diego Padres in the NL West, the Dodgers have real cracks showing in their armor. According to Bleacher Report's Kerry Miller, one player needs to rediscover his All-Star form immediately: Teoscar Hernández.

Miller called Hernández "arguably the weakest link of this offense," and the numbers back it up. But why target him instead of Shohei Ohtani or Roki Sasaki? The answer lies in two compelling trends: the team's record and Hernández's production go hand in hand.

Through April 20, the Dodgers were 15-4. Over those 19 games and 77 plate appearances, Hernández hit .268 with a .791 OPS, four home runs, and three doubles. In the next 19 games, Los Angeles went just 9-10. Over the same number of plate appearances, Hernández's average dropped to .227 with a .595 OPS—and zero home runs.

Obviously, the Dodgers' struggles aren't all on Hernández. But the correlation is impossible to ignore. When he's producing, the lineup clicks. When he's not, the team sputters.

For a squad built to dominate, getting Hernández back to his All-Star level could solve two problems at once: boost his own production and restore the winning rhythm that made L.A. the league's most dangerous team. In a tight division race, that turnaround can't come soon enough.