LOS ANGELES — Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández was placed on the 10-day injured list on Friday with a left hamstring strain, which he suffered during Wednesday night’s win over the Colorado Rockies. Ryan Ward got called up from Triple-A Oklahoma City to help fill in in left field with Hernández out. That was the expected move, but it wasn’t all.
Santiago Espinal also re-signed with the Dodgers, after getting designated for assignment on Monday and cleared waivers on Wednesday. Hyeseong Kim was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City, giving Alex Freeland more of a runway at second base, especially against right-handed pitchers.
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Hernández suffered the injury in the third inning on Wednesday running out a groundout, and expressed frustration in the dugout before finally retreating to the clubhouse. There’s never a good time for an injury, but the timing was especially rough for Hernández, who found his hitting stroke of late after a three-week stretch with no extra-base hits. Hernández in his last 16 games hit .364/.419/.600, with three home runs, four doubles, and a 186 wRC+.
It’s a Grade 1 hamstring injury for Hernández, manager Dave Roberts said, the mildest severity, though there is not yet a timetable for his return.
With Hernández out, left field will likely be split between Alex Call, a right-handed hitter, and the lefty-batting Ward. After playing two games for the Dodgers in April while Freddie Freeman was on paternity leave, Ward in Triple-A struggled, hitting .211/.346/.312 with an 80 wRC+ and only six extra-base hits in his last 29 games. While Ward has played more first base this season in Oklahoma City — 27 starts, compared to nine in left field — he’s played plenty of corner outfield in Triple-A with 122 starts in left field and 92 starts in right field since the start of 2023.
Call this season has started 11 games in a fill-in capacity all over the outfield — six starts in left, four in right, and once in center field — hitting .294/.413/.373 with four doubles and a 132 wRC+ in 63 plate appearances.
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“It’s not a complete platoon,” Roberts said. “I see Ryan Ward taking some at-bats versus right, I see Alex Call taking some at-bats versus left. But today, where Wheeler is just a really good pitcher, I want Alex to be in there, and feel that Alex can manage him and take some good at-bats.”
Ward will likely start on Sunday against right-hander Andrew Painter, Roberts said.
When Espinal was jettisoned on Monday, he left a Dodgers roster that had both Kiké Hernández and Teoscar Hernández. But within three days they lost both players, depleting the right-handed depth. The other right-handed option already on the 40-man roster is Tyler Fitzgerald, who has played third base, shortstop, second base, left field, and right field in Triple-A Oklahoma City. The Dodgers opted instead for the familiarity of Espinal, who played sparingly in his previous stint on the roster, with only 44 plate appearances in his 53 games active, and had just four hits in 26 at-bats against left-handed pitchers, against whom he has a career 104 wRC+.
“With a star-studded team, you also have to have guys that know their roles. Espy is a guy that is good on the team, understands his value, is ready when called upon, and I trust him defensively,” Roberts said. “I like him versus left-handed pitching. I think having him back is pretty seamless too, because we only lost him for a few days.”
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Look for Espinal to start on Saturday against left-hander Jesús Luzardo, likely at third base as the Dodgers ease Max Muncy back in after getting hit by a pitch on his wrist.
Kim was the odd man out, after just eight hits in 46 at-bats (.174/.250/.174) with 17 strikeouts over the last three weeks.
“I think his swing has changed, I think he’s losing his legs a little bit, and he’s coming around the ball a little. There’s a lot more swing and miss than there was early. I think he is just playing a little bit more tentative, to my eyes, and not as free and easy as he was in some parts of last year and early on,” Roberts said. “Getting him back to playing everyday [in Triple-A] in a little bit less of a hotbox, he’ll perform back to where he can and will. That’s kind of what we were hoping for.”
To make room on the 40-man roster for Espinal, Blake Snell was transferred to the 60-day injured list. Snell, who had arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies in his left elbow on May 19, isn’t eligible to return until July 11 — just two days before the All-Star break — at the earliest.
