Another night, another injury concern for the Dodgers.
After placing Kiké Hernández on the injured list before Wednesday’s game with an oblique strain, the Dodgers lost outfielder Teoscar Hernández to a left hamstring strain in a 4-1 win over the Colorado Rockies that is expected to land him on the IL, as well.
In the bottom of the second inning, Hernández ran hard up the first base line on a grounder to shortstop, but then came up limping after the throw beat him to the bag.
Hernández grabbed at his left hamstring, walked slowly off the field with a trainer waiting for him, then seemed visibly upset upon returning to the dugout –– nearly slamming his helmet at one point before disappearing into the clubhouse.
“[It’s] disappointing,” manager Dave Roberts said after the game. “He’s been playing so well and he’s a big part of what we’re doing. So to lose him for any length of time is not great.”
How long the Dodgers will be without Hernández is not yet clear. Roberts said he “tested well” in some initial evaluations after leaving the game, but will go in for further imaging on the team’s off day on Thursday.
“Something like that,” Roberts said, “obviously is going to be a few weeks at the minimum.”
Hernández’s injury comes at a bad time for both him and the team.
Kiké Hernández, another right-handed-hitting veteran capable of playing the outfield, will be out for the foreseeable future with what Roberts said pregame was a “significant tear” in his oblique.
Teoscar Hernández, meanwhile, had just started to get hot at the plate following an opening month slump. Over his last 17 games, he was batting .373 with three home runs and 14 RBIs, raising his season batting average from .236 to .278 and his OPS from .667 to .789.
In Hernández’s absence, the Dodgers will likely use a platoon at his spot in left field, Roberts said.
Alex Call, who has played well in a reserve role this year with a .294 batting average, will figure to get plenty of at-bats as the right-handed-hitting part of that equation. Hyeseong Kim, who was about to see his playing time cut after Alex Freeland was called up from the minors to take on regular duties at second base, could factor in as a left-handed option.
As for who the Dodgers will call up to replace Hernández on the big-league roster?
There is left-handed-hitting prospect James Tibbs III, who has had a big year for triple-A Oklahoma City by batting .316 with 12 home runs, though he also has four errors in right field.
Ryan Ward, a long-time minor-leaguer who made his MLB debut earlier this season when Freddie Freeman was on the paternity list, could be another option, although his triple-A numbers have declined from last year, when he was Pacific Coast League MVP. He has also played mostly first base in the minors lately, with only 10 appearances in the outfield this year.
The team’s other 40-man roster options include Alek Thomas, who was acquired in a trade earlier this month from the Arizona Diamondbacks but has spent the last few weeks working with the organization’s player development staff at Camelback Ranch in Arizona; and Tyler Fitzgerald, a utility player whom the Dodgers got in another trade with the Toronto Blue Jays earlier this season.
Tommy Edman is also currently on a rehab assignment, but will likely need another week or two to build up after missing the beginning of the year recovering from offseason ankle surgery.
Either way, Hernández’s hot bat had been key to the Dodgers’ offensive turnaround of late.
Now, he has become the latest injury concern the team will potentially have to navigate around.