On Tuesday, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Kiké Hernández has suffered a "significant tear" of his left oblique, with the manager adding the injury occurred the day before. The club will recall Alex Freeland from Triple-A Oklahoma City to take Hernández’s spot on the active roster.
Roberts declined to offer a firm timetable for Hernández’s return but added, "That’ll likely be a 2-3 week arrangement." The move follows Hernández’s brief return to the major-league club on Monday after a season-opening injured-list stint; he had just been activated when the new injury surfaced.
Hernández, who the Dodgers re-signed to a $4.5 million free-agent deal at the start of Spring Training, had been a hot hand in his first opportunities. He drove in a run with a double in his first at-bat of the season and hit a two-run homer the next day, leaving him 4-for-4 with three extra-base hits on the year before going down.
The development forced a quick roster shuffle. Santiago Espinal was designated for assignment on Monday to open the spot for Hernández’s return; with Hernández sidelined again, Freeland will fill the vacancy. Roberts said Freeland "will get the majority of the second base playing time now that he is back up."
The timing complicates a Dodgers infield that has already been in flux. Hernández started the past two games at third base while Max Muncy has dealt with right wrist soreness. Tommy Edman, another option in the corner and middle infield, began a rehab assignment at Oklahoma City last night as he works back from ankle surgery.
Freeland’s recall comes as Hyeseong Kim has gone cold at the plate this month. Kim is hitting.217 with a.273 on-base percentage and has just two extra-base hits in 20 MLB games, figures Roberts referenced when explaining the playing-time shuffle. The manager, speaking frankly about the slump, said, "He’s back to chasing [too many pitches out of the strike zone]. He’s passive when he shouldn’t be, and then he’s getting into bad counts. I don’t know if it’s a mechanical thing, but he’s been grinding the last – quite honestly, the last month it’s been kind of tough for him."
Hernández’s recent health history made his reappearance fragile: he underwent elbow surgery shortly after the World Series and missed the start of the season while recovering. His comments after the latest diagnosis mixed pain and humor: "This was the worst injury I’ve ever seen of this kind, and I don’t know how you played," Hernández said, later adding, "Thank you. I take it as a compliment," and, with a grin, "I did this for you, so you better bring me back."
The practical question for the Dodgers is whether the club’s patchwork infield can hold through what Roberts forecast as a roughly two- to three-week absence and whether Freeland can stabilize second base duties while Edman finishes his rehab. For now, the immediate move is clear: Freeland to Oklahoma City, Hernández to recovery, and a short-term rearrangement of an infield that has been forced into repeated adjustments this month.
