Kiké Hernández was put on the 10-day injured list for the Los Angeles Dodgers in early July, and at the time, they were hopeful he would make a relatively quick return.
Hernández was dealing with left elbow inflammation as a result of sliding awkwardly into home plate in late May. But Hernández also hid the injury from the team until it got to a point where he couldn’t any longer.
He dealt with lingering soreness for a month and then received a cortisone injection to treat the pain after an MRI ruled out a more significant injury.
Now one month later from the IL stint beginning, Hernández has only done some light throwing and no other baseball activities. The remainder of his season could be in risk, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts is not fully ready to rule out. a return.
“We’re not there yet as far as worrying about if the season is lost,” Roberts said. “He’s doing everything he can as far as the PRPs, the cortisones, the rest, other non-invasive procedures to try to speed this thing up. Right now, we’re all still hopeful. Certainly no guarantee, but we’re hopeful that he’ll be back.”
Hernández recently underwent a pair of nonsurgical operations to help alleviate some of the elbow pain after a cortisone injection failed to clear up the issue.
Hernández is in the midst of an overall down year as he’s batting just .195/.259/.367 with five doubles, eight home runs and 22 RBI across 186 plate appearances (71 games).
Following the elbow injury, he went just 8-for-his-last-59 before landing on the IL.
While he has struggled offensively, Hernández has continued to provide value with his versatility, appearing at six different positions this season.
If Hernández was to miss the remainder of the season, the Dodgers have the depth to counter his loss. Miguel Rojas is currently thriving in the utility infielder role, and the club also acquired Alex Call to be their right-handed hitting fourth outfielder. In addition, Alex Freeland provides another versatile infielder, and Hyeseong Kim is expected to return from the IL this season as well. Esteury Ruiz has also filled in as outfield depth, but he has primarily been used as a defensive substitute and pinch-runner. Have you subscribed to the Dodger Blue YouTube channel? Be sure to ring the notification bell to watch player interviews, participate in shows and giveaways, and stay up to date on all Dodgers news and rumors!
