The Los Angeles Dodgers welcomed back Tommy Edman last week and remain on track to move closer to getting healthy with their position players as Teoscar Hernández is poised to begin a rehab assignment.
Hernández, out since May 29 because of a Grade 1 left hamstring strain, participated in a simulated game this past Thursday and continued to go through workouts over the weekend.
Now the 33-year-old is poised to join Triple-A Oklahoma City for the start of what could be a short rehab assignment.
“I think he is probably slated to play Tuesday,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “My assumption is he’ll join us in Sacramento.”
Given the general timeline Roberts shared, that indicates Hernández likely will play in four or five games with the Comets. The Dodgers’ begin their series against the Athletics in Sacramento on Monday, June 29.
The Minor League Baseball schedule has teams off on Mondays, thus Oklahoma City doesn’t begin a six-game series against the Reno Aces (Arizona Diamondbacks affiliate) until Tuesday.
Hernández’s hamstring strain interrupted what was taking shape to be a bounce-back season, but there nevertheless was optimism his injury was a best-case scenario. Despite that, Hernández and the Dodgers committed to taking a deliberate approach with his recovery process due in large part to last year’s lingering adductor issue.
“I’m going to take my time,” Hernández recently said. “I want to deal with it. It’s early in the season. Miss maybe a couple more weeks, and then be back 100% and just give my best to the team all the way through the end of the season.”
Roberts had noted the Dodgers would be “very mindful” of how they handled Hernandez’s progression. “As you get into the summer, if you have a setback, it could be more costly,” he said. “Where right now, it’s not as costly.”
Hernández is batting .276/.348/.436 with seven home runs and 31 RBI so far this season.
Teoscar Hernández helping Dodgers defense
One area Roberts believes has gone somewhat unnoticed is the Dodgers’ strong defensive play this season and the group’s overall improvement from 2025. Hernández, now back in left field, was among the reasons Roberts pointed to for the success.
“Max’s (Muncy) case, he’s just in much better shape, so that’s helping the mobility. I think Freddie (Freeman) is now healthy with the ankle, so that helps his mobility. Teo, I think it was just more of really seeing how bad it was, versus what his own expectation is, and now he’s realized that.
“(Alex) Freeland’s done great. He’s out there working every day. (Kyle) Tucker, I think he’s gotten better over the last month. Across the board, really good.”
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