Dodgers Digest Los Angeles Dodgers Baseball Blog
| PA | AVG | OBP | SLG | wRC+ | HR | WAR | |
| MiLB (ABQ) | 74 | .286 | .392 | .333 | 98 | 0 | n/a |
| MLB (LA) | 9 | .286 | .444 | .714 | 227 | 1 | 0.2 |
What happened in 2014: Surprising mid-season minor league addition became surprise September recall with one big surprising moment.
Roger Bernadina had only nine plate appearances for the Dodgers after he was unexpectedly added to the roster on Sept. 6. Every single one came as a pinch-hitter or after being added as a defensive replacement. You don’t care about eight of them. You probably don’t care about nine of them, but let’s say for a moment that I can prove you wrong.
In the final game of the season, with Juan Uribe managing, a 10-5 win over the Rockies that ended with Alex Guerrero in left, Joc Pederson in center, and Bernadina in right, Bernadina replaced Yasiel Puig in the top of the fifth. In the top of the sixth, he faced Rob Scahill with Darwin Barney and Drew Butera on base, and absolutely destroyed a ball into the right field seats.
No, really. Per Hit Tracker Online, it was the fastest (by “speed off bat”) non-Hanley home run by any Dodger this season. I mean, just look at this list:
| Date | Hitter | Pitcher | Ballpark | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6/8/2014 | Ramirez, Hanley | De La Rosa, Jorge | Coors Field | 117.6 |
| 5/11/2014 | Ramirez, Hanley | Romo, Sergio | Dodger Stadium | 114.3 |
| 5/18/2014 | Ramirez, Hanley | Collmenter, Josh | Chase Field | 114.1 |
| 9/28/2014 | Bernadina, Roger | Scahill, Rob | Dodger Stadium | 113.2 |
| 5/3/2014 | Puig, Yasiel | Turner, Jacob | Marlins Park | 111.6 |
| 5/17/2014 | Puig, Yasiel | Anderson, Chase | Chase Field | 110.9 |
What in the world is a guy like Bernadina, who has 28 home runs in nearly 1,500 plate appearances spread over seven seasons, doing on a list with Ramirez and Puig? Existing, I suppose, in our memories, which he wouldn’t have done if not for that homer. I already barely remember he was here. Maybe he wasn’t. I bet Rob Scahill remembers, though.
2015 status: Bernadina elected to become a free agent on October 14.
