Dodgers utility man Kiké Hernández sat with manager Dave Roberts on the dugout bench for a while after he was lifted from a 15-6 win over the Rockies on Tuesday with what the team later called a left oblique strain.
“He understood how frustrated I was,” Hernández said, “and he was trying to get me to keep my head up.”
The Dodgers plan to put Hernández on the 10-day injured list and recall infielder Alex Freeland, Roberts said after the game. Hernández expects to know more about the severity of the injury Wednesday.
“It’s a bummer,” Roberts said after the game. “He’s missed a lot of time and worked hard to get back, was in great shape, added that spark that we had hoped.”
It was his second game of the season, after starting the year on the injured list after offseason surgery on his left elbow. And he was driving the ball hard.
But he said he initially tweaked his oblique before his season debut, during batting practice Monday.
“I was pretty embarrassed about it,” Hernández said. “I thought it was just weird tightness. Never done an oblique before. So I didn’t really know what I was feeling. Came in today, wasn’t feeling great. I got treatment, but I thought I could play. … Compared to some of the things I’ve played through in the past, it was nothing.
“And, yeah, it was a little more than nothing”
In Hernández’s first at-bat Tuesday, leading off the third inning, he launched a solo home run. That swing, however, “felt awful.”
In between innings, he felt it throwing to first.
In his second at-bat he swung and missed before doubling as part of a four-run rally in the fourth inning. Neither swing felt good. When it also hurt running the bases, he knew it was time to come out of the game.
“Any other year, I would have at least tried to finish the game,” Hernández said. “But … when I was with the Red Sox, going through my core injury, last year with my elbow, I just keep going through things and I make things a lot worse. Today was one of those games that I felt like if I kept going, I was probably going to really, really put myself in danger of missing the rest of the season. So I just told him that I couldn’t go anymore.”
After talking with Roberts, Hernández stood up and disappeared down the tunnel. He was replaced in the lineup by Hyeseong Kim, with Miguel Rojas sliding over from second base to third in the top of the fifth inning.
“Frustrating to say the least,” Hernández said. “Not just because I missed time, but me coming back got somebody off the roster— those types of things. I was only able to give the team four at-bats. Yeah, tough. I feel pretty defeated right now. Hopefully we get somewhat good news tomorrow.”
Hernández had been filling in for Max Muncy at third base, while Muncy recovered from being hit by a pitch on the right wrist on Friday in Milwaukee. But Muncy will be in the lineup Wednesday, Roberts said, after testing his wrist before the game by throwing to bases and hitting on the field. He entered the game Tuesday in the top of the ninth and fielded a groundout.
So, the Dodgers will have options in the infield, even after designating Santiago Espinal for assignment Monday to activate Hernández. Freeland is expected to fill the utility player role. But Hernández made an immediate difference in just two games.
After Hernández helped jump-start the offense Tuesday, it kept piling on. Mookie Betts had a two-homer game, his first in over a year. Andy Pages’ four-hit game tied a career high. The team combined for 17 hits and 15 runs, both matching season highs.
By the end, both teams had position players pitching. And the Rockies scored all but one of their runs off Rojas.
Ohtani to pitch despite HBP
In the fourth inning, right after Hernández’s double, Rockies starting pitcher Kyle Freeland hit Shohei Ohtani in the right hand with an 85.2-mph changeup.
Ohtani spun and winced but then strode straight to first base. The next inning, Dalton Rushing pinch hit for him.
Shohei Ohtani reacts after getting hit by pitch on his right hand in the fourth inning.
(Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Ohtani still scheduled to start on the mound Wednesday, Roberts said. But his hitting status went from likely to undecided.
“I just want to make sure, how he comes in and physically how he feels,” Roberts said. “Want to make sure he feels really good on the pitching side of things.”
Roberts doesn’t expect Ohtani to need X-rays on his hand, saying the pitch mostly hit the padding on his batting gloves.