Kiké Hernández is a free agent for a fourth straight offseason after playing on another one-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
He is among several Dodgers free agents, with the group including the likes of Miguel Rojas, Michael Kopech, Kirby Yates and others.
There is mutual interest in a reunion between Hernández and the Dodgers, but his health slightly clouds the outlook for how contract negotiations will play out.
Hernández underwent left elbow surgery shortly after the conclusion of the 2025 World Series. He noted that playing through the injury wound up causing the muscle that allows the arm to extend to separate from the bone in his left elbow.
Recovering from the procedure will prevent Hernández from playing for Team Puerto Rico in the 2026 World Baseball Classic. It was devastating news for the 34-year-old, who had been especially looking forward to this WBC because Puerto Rico is the host nation of Pool A.
During an episode of “Baseball and Coffee” with Adam Ottavino, Hernández detailed how and why he made the difficult decision to undergo surgery despite knowing he would miss WBC games in Puerto Rico:
“Yeah, that was devastating. When I went in for my post-World Series MRI, my exit physical, the MRI showed kind of the same as the MRI in July as far as the damage, but it was hard to tell because it looked like a weather forecast. It was so white. There was so much swelling that it was super white, and right then and there they gave me a 50-50 chance of recovering without surgery. It was my decision and I was torn, because I didn’t know what to do.
“I really wanted to play in the WBC. From the bottom of my heart, playing in the WBC at home in Puerto Rico has been as big a dream of mine as playing in the World Series. I played in two WBCs, and I never got a chance to play in Puerto Rico. This time around we brought it back to Puerto Rico, so I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know what to do.’ I was like, ‘Doc, I’m going to need a couple of days to think about it. Hopefully my family can make a decision for me.’
“Sure enough, I talked to my wife, talked to my parents and I talked to my agents. I let them decide. As you remember in Boston, when I hurt my core, I played a couple more years like that. Not knowing that I needed surgery. I ended up getting surgery three seasons after the fact. They were like, ‘You’re not doing this again.’ Going into this surgery, it was like a week between MRI and surgery day. I was second-guessing myself. I was like, ‘Man, every day that goes by, I feel better and better. I don’t know if I’m making the right decision. I think I might be screwing it up by getting surgery.’ Sure enough, as soon as they went in, I needed the surgery, and I’m glad I did it.”
Hernández suffered the injury on a head-first slide into home plate during a game against the Cleveland Guardians in late May.
Hernández attempted to play through pain but he was eventually placed on the 10-day injured list on July 7. He wound up missing almost two months during the 2025 season because of left elbow trouble.
He later revealed there was a point at which missing the rest of the year was appearing possible.
Kiké Hernández recovery timeline
Hernández shared the details of his elbow surgery, which turned out to be an extensor repair. He estimated the recovery could cause him to miss a month of the season, or perhaps two in a worst-case scenario.
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