Red Sox’s Alex Cora Praises Kiké Hernández’s Defensive Improvement

Kiké Hernández struggled at shortstop early in the season, but the Boston Red Sox infielder has improved in time for the second half of the Major League Baseball season.

Hernández no longer is the full-time shortstop with Yu Chang primarily filling in the role, and Trevor Story’s upcoming return also could be an answer at the position. But the 31-year-old has cut out the mistakes in his starts at shortstop with only one error in the past month.

“I can say with confidence we turned the pitch a month ago,” manager Alex Cora told reporters at Wrigley Field before Saturday’s game against the Chicago Cubs, as seen on NESN’s pregame coverage. “He’s been playing really good shortstop for us for a month now. We move him around, but I’m very confident with him playing short. He found a few things that he was doing mechanically, and I think it’s paying off. I don’t have any issues with him playing shortstop (Saturday).”

Hernández has 15 errors this season and knew he had to play better to help the Red Sox in their playoff hopes. He’ll hope to continue his improved play Saturday as Boston aims to gain more ground in the American League wild card.