And the roster shuffle continues. As Eric Stephen wrote about earlier, Alex Freeland is back with the big-league club as Kiké Hernández goes on the IL with left oblique strain. Hernández felt something on Tuesday and left that game early, and an MRI on Wednesday showed “a significant tear”, according to Manager Dave Roberts.
It was a short-lived reunion with the Dodgers for Hernández, who was just activated off the IL for the first time this season on Monday. While it is not expected to be a season ending
injury for Kiké, Mookie Betts missed five weeks of this season with a less significant version of the same injury. Kiké felt particularly bad about how it happened, during batting practice on Tuesday.
“I was pretty embarrassed about it,” he said. “I had to talk to you guys right after I hit and tell you guys I was pain-free at the time. I thought it was just a weird tightness.”
Hernández hit a home run and a double in the game but pulled himself out of the game after the fourth inning, knowing he would injure himself more if he kept going.
Dylan Hernandez of the California Post has more of Kiké’s thoughts here.
For his part, Roberts was very pleased with how Freeland handled himself when he was the odd man out and optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City earlier this season when Mookie Betts returned from the IL.
“It was great,” Roberts said of Freeland’s success with OKC. “That’s kind of what we talked about doing is going down there and knocking the door down and taking that frustration out on those pitchers and that’s what he did. So obviously, there’s an opportunity and I just feel that right now he’s earned that opportunity to get some looks consistently.
“It’s a credit to him to go back down there and play well.”
Bill Plunkett has that quote and more here.
Max Muncy returned to the Dodgers lineup on Wednesday night, after being hit by a pitch on his hand in Friday night’s game.
In other injury news, Kendall George, the Dodgers’ 13th ranked prospect, pulled up short in his Double-A game on Monday, avoiding the Tulsa Drillers’ bat dog. George is feared to have suffered a moderate patellar injury.
On Wednesday, the Drillers announced that they are suspending the bat dog program indefinitely. Jack Harris of the California Post discusses the situation surrounding the freak incident here.
