The Los Angeles Dodgers re-signed Santiago Espinal on Friday, just four days after designating him for assignment.
That came as the corresponding move to the Dodgers bring Kiké Hernández off the 60-day injured list, but subsequent injuries led to a change in plans.
Hernández injured his left oblique, while Teoscar Hernández also landed on the IL with a left hamstring strain. That resulted in the Dodgers replacing them with Ryan Ward and Alex Freeland, both of whom make the team more left-handed.
To help address that, the Dodgers decided to option the struggling Hyeseong Kim to Triple-A Oklahoma City and replace him with Espinal after he cleared waivers and elected free agency.
That gave the Dodgers another right-handed bat on the bench with a similar profile to Kiké Hernández.
“Yeah, it does,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts answered when asked if Espinal’s return helps offset the loss of Hernández. “And I think that with a star-studded team, you also have to have guys that know their roles.
“Espy is a guy that is good on the team, understands his value, he’s ready when called upon, I trust him defensively, and I just like him versus left-handed pitching. So, I think that just having him back is pretty seamless too, because we lost him for a couple of days, and it’s like no time has passed. So it’s good to have him back.”
Before optioning Kim for Espinal, the Dodgers planned to recall Freeland to replace Kim. Instead, Freeland replaced Hernández on the active roster until the Dodgers could bring back Espinal, who then took Kim’s spot.
While the transaction ended up being Espinal for Kim, the Dodgers view Espinal as a Hernández replacement, while their main decision was between Freeland and Kim.
The Dodgers also consider Espinal as a better fit on their bench as a right-handed bat, given that Freeland is best used in a platoon role, and Max Muncy is another left-handed bat still recovering from his own injury.
“Well, I think that Alex is much better batting left-handed than facing lefties and batting right-handed,” Roberts said. “So I think that having Espy, trusting him to play third, to play second, to kick out to the outfield if need be, but also take that at-bat against a lefty.
“And Max is still just coming back from his wrist, hit by pitch, so to have Espy on the roster that can hang in there versus a tough left, I feel good about.”
During Espinal’s first stint with the team, he went 9-for-41 (.220) with three doubles, one home run and four RBI over 26 games.
He originally joined the organization during the offseason on a Minor League contract and earned a spot on the Opening Day roster behind a strong Spring Training.
Dodgers want Hyeseong Kim to work on swing
The Dodgers previously decided to give Kim some runway as the starting second baseman and optioned Freeland once Mookie Betts returned.
However, Kim struggled with his opportunity, hitting .186/.250/.186 over his last 15 games. In addition, he hit just .236 with a .551 on-base plus slugging in his last 30 games.
“I think his swing has changed,” Roberts said. “I think he’s losing his legs a little bit, I think that it’s coming around the ball a little bit. There’s a lot more swing-and-miss than there was early. I think he is just playing, with my eyes, a little bit more tentative, and not as free and easy as he was in some parts of last year and early on.
“So I think that just giving him back to playing every day, a little bit less of a hot box, he’ll perform back to where he can and will. So that’s kind of what we’re hoping for.”
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