Kiké Hernández got off to an excellent start in his first two games back, collecting two hits in each of his first two games since getting activated off the injured list on Monday. But the Dodgers infielder/outfielder left Tuesday’s game after four innings with a strained left oblique strain.
Hernández doubled and scored in the Dodgers’ four-run fourth inning. But on replay appeared to be laboring while running around first base on the hit.
He was replaced on defense by Hyeseong Kim in the top of the fifth
inning, with SportsNet LA showing manager Dave Roberts talking to a frustrated Hernández in the dugout, before Hernández retreated to the clubhouse.
It was a long road for Hernández just to get his season started. He missed the first 53 games after undergoing left elbow surgery in November, and played three weeks on a rehab assignment in Triple-A before getting activated off the 60-day injured list on Monday. Hernández told reporters on Monday at Dodger Stadium this was the healthiest he’s felt in a year.
“I think I was in so much pain this year that it helped with the patience,” he said Monday.
Hernández started at third base on both Monday and Tuesday. He doubled in a run and singled on Monday, then homered in his first at-bat on Tuesday before the fourth-inning double. Now we’ll see how long that 1.000/1.000/2.250 batting line holds for the utility man.
Mookie Betts strained his oblique earlier this season in April, and he missed 36 days before returning.
“I was trying to hurry, but the docs were like, ‘It takes a month for it to just heal,’” Betts said on May 11 when he was activated off the injured list. “Then you have to do all your prep to get back to playing. So you can’t really rush time.”
