Dodgers Notes: Diaz, Snell, Glasnow, Ohtani, Yamamoto
The Dodgers sent All-Star closer Edwin Diaz on a rehab assignment tonight. The right-hander is recovering from elbow surgery. Diaz had a procedure to remove loose bodies in late April. He’s now back on the mound and working toward a return to Los Angeles.
Diaz’s tenure with the Dodgers got off to a strong start. He picked up saves in four of his first five appearances, allowing just a run. The veteran righty blew his first save against the Rangers, then didn’t pitch for nine days. When he finally returned to the mound, Diaz imploded, allowing three earned runs without recording an out. He went on the IL the following day.
Even during his good outings, Diaz’s velocity was down. He sat at 95.7 mph with his four-seamer. He’s never averaged below 97 mph as a big leaguer. Diaz’s slider was also down about a tick from last season. The pitch had more drop and horizontal break than normal.
The Dodgers handed Tanner Scott the ninth inning when Diaz went down. The results have been solid, as the lefty has picked up 13 saves in 15 tries. Most importantly, Scott has a career-best 3.5% walk rate. Control is typically his downfall, but he has just five walks in 40 games. Scott could continue to factor into the ninth-inning equation even after Diaz returns.
Here are more items from the Dodgers…
- Left-hander Blake Snell threw live batting practice on Saturday (video link via Sonja Chen of MLB.com). It’s his first time facing live hitters since having elbow surgery in May. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters, including Chen, that Snell will start a rehab assignment next week. He’s expected to need four to five starts before returning to the majors.
- Right-hander Tyler Glasnow tossed a fastball-only bullpen on Friday. What was initially believed to be a minor back injury has sidelined the righty for more than two months. Glasnow has had multiple setbacks as he’s tried to return to the mound.”There’s been times where he’s played catch, thrown pens and then feels good until he doesn’t,” Roberts said, relayed by Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register. “The back is a little tricky.”
- Two-way star Shohei Ohtani provided more details about his injured knee, which will keep him out of the All-Star game. The discomfort is in his kneecap, relays Dylan Hernandez of the California Post. Ohtani had surgery on that knee during the 2019 season while with the Angels. He had no problem launching a leadoff homer yesterday, but explained the injury is more of an issue on the mound. “Pitching puts more of a strain on it.” Ohtani is slated to have the knee drained over the break.
- Right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto will also miss the All-Star game. Roberts said the ace won’t pitch in the exhibition (h/t Jack Harris of the California Post). Yamamoto started on Saturday against the Diamondbacks. Pitchers who throw over the weekend often choose to skip the game. Teammate Justin Wrobleski will take Yamamoto’s spot on the National League squad.
- Utilityman Kiké Hernández expects to return to the club during the first homestand following the All-Star break, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. The Dodgers open the second half with three series on the road. The first home series starts on July 28 against the Mariners. Hernandez strained his oblique in late May. He’s yet to begin a rehab assignment.
Photo courtesy of Gary A. Vasquez, Imagn Images
Dodgers Notes: Phillips, Díaz, Hernández
Erstwhile Dodgers closer Evan Phillips has barely pitched since the start of 2025. He opened that season on the 15-day injured list for a right rotator cuff strain, ultimately debuting on April 19th. Phillips only made seven appearances before undergoing Tommy John surgery that May, causing him to miss the rest of that season and all of 2026 to date. The Dodgers non-tendered Phillips at the end of 2025, but ultimately re-signed him to a one-year, $6.5MM deal.
The fact that it was a one-year deal (and a $13.65MM overall commitment including the luxury tax) suggested that the Dodgers were confident in Phillips’ ability to return and pitch a meaningful sample in 2026. That long process will now come to fruition, as Bill Plunkett of the Orange County Register reports that Phillips is currently with the team. According to manager Dave Roberts, Phillips will be activated off the injured list tomorrow (link via MLB.com’s Sonja Chen).
Back in February, general manager Brandon Gomes suggested that Phillips would return around late July, so his activation comes in a few weeks ahead of schedule. The righty has been on a rehab assignment at Triple-A for the last month, and the results have been encouraging. Phillips has a 1.80 ERA in 10 innings over 12 appearances, along with a 28.9% strikeout rate. He’s walking more hitters than he should be, but he’s more importantly back to full health. Phillips’ four-seamer and slider, which he combined to use over 75% of the time in 2024, are both back to their pre-injury velocities.
At his peak, Phillips was one of the most dominant relievers in the sport. From 2022-24, he threw 179 innings with a 2.21 ERA that was seventh-best among qualified relievers. He also ranked 18th with a 23.2% K-BB rate and earned 44 saves in that time. Having invested heavily in his rehab, the Dodgers are surely hoping Phillips can recapture that dominance through the remainder of this season.
It may help that Phillips won’t be needed in the closer role. Tanner Scott has taken that job since Edwin Díaz went on the IL in April for loose bodies in his elbow. Scott had a 4.74 ERA last year but has cut that down to 2.02 in 35 2/3 innings this year. Meanwhile, his 32.1% K-BB rate is third-best among qualified relievers, behind only Mason Miller and Jhoan Duran. With a dominant Scott already in place as the closer, the team can afford to use Phillips in medium-leverage spots and, if all goes well, build him up to a high-leverage setup role come October.
Speaking of closers, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports that Díaz faced live hitters in a pregame session today. It was Díaz’s first live session since underdoing surgery, and he reportedly came away feeling “way better than early in the season,” as relayed by Chen. Díaz felt encouraged by the swing-and-miss on his fastball during the session and hopes to be activated not long after the All-Star break, according to Chen.
Díaz struggled in seven appearances before the surgery, allowing seven earned runs and five unintentional walks in six innings, although he did strike out ten hitters. Owing to the loose elbow bodies, his high-octane four-seamer was down 1.5 MPH from last year. Now that he’s thrown a live session, Díaz should be ready to start his own rehab assignment.
Having set a record for a closer’s average annual value this past offseason, there’s no question that Díaz will take that role from Scott upon his return. That will make Scott an overqualified setup option and serve to extend the Dodgers’ already dominant bullpen. All six of the team’s qualified relievers have ERAs under 3.60, and four of them have ERAs of 2.60 or lower. The bullpen’s 4.1 fWAR is tied for third-best in the Majors, and with the returns of Díaz and Phillips, the group figures to continue dominating over the stretch run.
On the hitting side, Enrique Hernández was one of the hitters facing Díaz today. According to Woo, the Dodgers continue to be optimistic on Hernández’s recovery from the “significant” left oblique tear he suffered in May. Due to that injury and his earlier recovery from offseason elbow surgery, Hernández has only appeared in two games this year.
Hernández, 34, is a free agent after this season. Last year’s numbers were the worst of his second stint with the Dodgers. In 256 plate appearances, Hernández batted .203/.255/.366 with a wRC+ of 70, indicating he was 30% worse than the average hitter. He remains a capable defender at multiple positions, so he holds value in a depth role, to say nothing of his valuable clubhouse presence. Alex Freeland, who was recalled to take Hernández’s roster spot in May, only has a 77 wRC+ and is a candidate to be optioned when the latter eventually returns.
Photo courtesy of Brett Davis, Imagn Images
Kiké Hernández Diagnosed With “Significant” Oblique Tear
Dodgers utilityman Kiké Hernández sustained a “significant tear” of his left oblique yesterday, manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including Dylan Hernández of The California Post). Infielder Alex Freeland will be recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City to take his spot on the active roster.
Roberts didn’t specify a timeline on Hernández, but it sounds like another extended absence is inevitable. Hernández just returned from a season-opening injured list stint on Monday. He’d undergone elbow surgery shortly after the World Series and needed the first couple months of the regular season to complete his rehab.
Hernández started the past two games at third base while Max Muncy was nursing right wrist soreness. (Roberts said Muncy will return to the lineup tonight against Colorado righty Tomoyuki Sugano.) Hernández hit an RBI double in his first at-bat of the season and drilled a two-run homer yesterday. He was 4-4 with three extra-base hits on the year.
It’s unlikely Hernández would’ve remained a huge offensive threat. He’s a .232/.282/.392 hitter since the Dodgers reacquired him from the Red Sox at the 2023 deadline. Dodgers brass clearly loves Hernández as a clubhouse presence, however, and he’s a versatile defensive player. The Dodgers re-signed him to a $4.5MM free agent contract at the beginning of Spring Training.
Frustrating as it surely is for Hernández personally, it’s also less than ideal for the team from a depth perspective. L.A. designated the out-of-options Santiago Espinal for assignment on Monday to open the active roster spot for Hernández’s return. He’ll need to be traded or waived this week and would likely become a free agent if he clears waivers. The Dodgers could try to re-sign him if it gets to that point, but all other teams will have an opportunity to add Espinal to their MLB rosters in the interim.
Freeland and Tyler Fitzgerald are the remaining depth infielders on the 40-man roster. The switch-hitting Freeland was optioned on May 11. He’s hitting .238 with a .360 on-base percentage since going back to Triple-A. Starting second baseman Hyeseong Kim has gone cold this month, batting .217 with a .273 OBP and only two extra-base hits in 20 MLB games. Roberts indicated that Freeland will get the majority of the second base playing time now that he’s back up (via Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic). He’ll presumably be in the starting lineup tonight.
That’ll likely be a 2-3 week arrangement. Tommy Edman has been out all season recovering from ankle surgery. He began a rehab assignment at OKC last night. Those can last up to 20 days for position players, and it’s likely Edman will need the full window because he didn’t have a Spring Training. That’d put his return date in the second or third week of June barring any setbacks.
Dodgers Reinstate Kiké Hernández, Designate Santiago Espinal
The Dodgers announced that they have reinstated utilityman Kiké Hernández from the 60-day injured list. To make room for Hernández, the Dodgers designated infielder/outfielder Santiago Espinal for assignment.
A couple of weeks after Hernández won his third World Series as a member of the Dodgers, he underwent elbow surgery in mid-November. That put Hernández in a less-than-ideal spot in free agency, but the Dodgers wound up bringing him back on a one-year, $4.5MM deal in February. They retained a revered clubhouse presence and someone who can line up all over the field, though Hernández has seen his offensive impact fall off in recent seasons.
From 2014-21, which he divided between Houston, Miami, LA and Boston, Hernández hit .242/.318/.430 in 2,593 plate appearances. That was 1 percent better than the league average, according to wRC+. From 2022-25, split between Boston and LA, Hernández limped to a .232/.297/.382 line in 2,144 trips to the plate. His 84 wRC+ in that stretch was 16 percent below average. The 34-year-old will aim for a rebound this season after one of his worst offensive seasons in 2025. While playing through his elbow injury for a large portion of the year, Hernández hit .203/.255/.366 (70 wRC+) in 93 games and 256 plate appearances. Defensively, he saw 20-plus games worth of action at first, second, third and in the outfield.
In his season debut Monday against the Rockies, Hernández will fill in at the hot corner for Max Muncy and bat ninth. Muncy has been down since the the Brewers’ Aaron Ashby struck him in the right wrist with a 95.5 mph sinker on Friday. X-rays came back negative, but Muncy will get a third straight off day to recover.
Espinal, who saw big league time with the Blue Jays and Reds from 2020-25, settled for a minors deal with the Dodgers last offseason. They selected Espinal’s contract in late March, setting him up to earn a $2.5MM salary. The light-hitting 31-year-old struggled to a .220/.238/.366 line (67 wRC+) with one home run in 44 plate appearances. Espinal appeared in 26 games and played first, second and third before the Dodgers designated him, though he started in just nine contests.
Espinal is now heading into DFA limbo, which can last up to a week’s time. There is a 48-hour waiver process, meaning the Dodgers could take five days to swing a trade. Finding a taker should be tough when you combine Espinal’s salary with his subpar production. If a trade does not come together, Espinal has enough service time (over five years) to reject an outright assignment and keep the rest of his guaranteed salary.
Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images.
Dodgers Notes: Glasnow, Snell, Hernández
The Dodgers are sending Tyler Glasnow for a precautionary MRI after his early exit on Wednesday afternoon, manager Dave Roberts tells reporters (including Maddie Lee of The Los Angeles Times). The big righty felt a back spasm while warming up in the second inning of today’s start in Houston. The Dodgers got him out of the game at that point.
Roberts said the team doesn’t believe Glasnow will need a stint on the injured list. The pitcher said it’s a recurring issue which he battles a couple times per season. Glasnow had a minimal IL stint in 2024 due to lower back tightness and was scratched from a start last September with the same issue.
Glasnow allowed a leadoff home run to Brice Matthews before rebounding with strikeouts of Yordan Alvarez and Isaac Paredes. He became the 45th active pitcher to reach 1000 career punchouts in the process. Glasnow has fanned just under a third of opponents en route to a 2.72 earned run average over his first seven starts.
The early exit forced the Dodgers to lean heavily on their bullpen. Jack Dreyer, Edgardo Henriquez, Kyle Hurt, Blake Treinen, Tanner Scott and the just activated Brock Stewart all pitched in what turned out to be a blowout 12-2 win. Los Angeles is off tomorrow and none of their relievers topped 27 pitches, so they may not need to make any changes to the staff heading into a weekend series against the NL-leading Braves.
L.A. entered play on Wednesday as one of the two teams (along with the Yankees) whose rotation had a sub-3.00 earned run average. Shohei Ohtani was the National League’s Pitcher of the Month for April. Justin Wrobleski is second in MLB behind Ohtani in ERA. Glasnow and Yoshinobu Yamamoto have each pitched very well. Roki Sasaki and Emmet Sheehan are the two of L.A.’s season-opening starters who have struggled.
That sextet has accounted for all of the Dodgers’ starts so far. That’ll likely change within the next 10 days. Blake Snell, out all season after offseason shoulder fatigue, is set for his final rehab appearance on Saturday with Low-A Ontario (via the MLB.com injury tracker). He’s expected to rejoin the MLB rotation after that, so he should make his season debut in the middle of next week.
The Dodgers have firmly maintained they view Sasaki as a starter even as the former NPB star struggled with walks and home runs throughout Spring Training and the early part of the regular season. They might be more willing to move Sheehan to the bullpen, though he has a much better strikeout and walk profile than Sasaki does. If Glasnow does require an IL stint, that’d take the decision out of the club’s hands.
In other injury news, utilityman Kiké Hernández began a rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City last night. Hernández began the season on the 60-day injured list after last fall’s elbow surgery. That officially rules him out until at least May 24. Position players can spend up to 20 days on a rehab assignment, so the Dodgers clearly anticipate Hernández being ready to go when he’s first eligible.
Barring a setback, he’ll return to the MLB roster on either May 24 or 25. The Dodgers have used Alex Freeland and Hyeseong Kim as their middle infield tandem with Mookie Betts and Tommy Edman both on the injured list. Santiago Espinal and fourth outfielder Alex Call occupy the final two spots on the bench. Call has a couple minor league options remaining but has been a productive short side platoon bat for the past couple seasons. Espinal, who broke camp after an offseason minor league deal, has more than five years of MLB service and can refuse an assignment to the minors.
Injury Notes: Crawford, Kerkering, Murphy, Hernández
Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford is currently on the 10-day injured list with right shoulder inflammation, though he is not expected to have a lengthy absence. Indeed, Adam Jude of The Seattle Times reports that Crawford is with the team today and participated in batting practice. He is also slated for a full infield workout, per Daniel Kramer of MLB.com. He will remain with the team through the weekend before starting a Triple-A rehab assignment.
The update bodes well for Mariners fans, who will be glad to have their longtime shortstop back in action after just a few weeks. Crawford has generally been healthy since the 2021 season, apart from two missed months in 2024 due to a right oblique strain and a hand fracture. Assuming his rehab goes well, he’ll be on track for another season of 140 or more games. Last year, Crawford posted a 113 wRC+ in 157 games, showing his usual plate discipline with an 11.3% walk rate and an 88th-percentile chase rate. His defense regressed somewhat, but he was viewed positively by Defensive Runs Saved as recently as 2024. Leo Rivas will continue to play short for the Mariners while Crawford recovers.
A few more injury updates from around the league:
- Phillies right-hander Orion Kerkering threw a scoreless inning in his first rehab appearance at Triple-A. The next step is for him to throw in back-to-back games on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to manager Rob Thomson (link via Todd Zolecki of MLB.com). Kerkering was placed on the 15-day IL three days ago with a right hamstring strain, though he did pitch in minor league games near the end of camp. Judging by that, he should be back at some point in mid-April. Kerkering is coming off a solid 3.30 ERA in 60 relief innings in 2025, albeit with less encouraging peripherals. The late innings are covered by Jhoan Duran, Jose Alvarado, and Brad Keller, so Kerkering will take a middle relief role upon his return.
- Elsewhere in the NL East, Braves catcher Sean Murphy is participating in baseball activities and could start a rehab assignment soon, according to Mark Bowman of MLB.com. The 31-year-old Murphy underwent hip surgery in September, and Bowman previously suggested that Murphy hoped to return some time in May. With last year’s NL Rookie of the Year Drake Baldwin holding down the fort, the team can afford to proceed cautiously with Murphy’s rehab. That could make a late May return the goal for Atlanta. Murphy posted slightly below average offense in 2025, although his defense was excellent as usual. Baldwin, in contrast, was 25% better than average offensively last year, with -2 DRS behind the plate.
- Dodgers utilityman Enrique Hernández took batting practice on the field today. He is also progressing on defense, fielding grounders and making throws according to manager Dave Roberts (link via Maddie Lee of the Los Angeles Times). Roberts added that he would be “shocked” if Hernández did not return from the 60-day IL as soon as he is eligible on May 24. Hernández didn’t offer much with the bat last year, with a wRC+ of 70. His 5 Outs Above Average showed that his defense was still an asset, and he remains a fan favorite in Los Angeles thanks to his postseason heroics. He is playing on a $4.5MM salary in his 13th big-league season.
Photo courtesy of Matt Kartozian, Imagn Images
Dodgers Claim Jack Suwinski
3:23PM: Suwinski’s claim has been officially announced by the Dodgers, and Enrique Hernandez was placed on the 60-day injured list in the corresponding roster move. Hernandez underwent surgery in November to repair a torn muscle in his non-throwing arm, and it was already known that the utilityman would be missing at least the first couple of months of the 2026 season.
1:24PM: The Dodgers are claiming outfielder Jack Suwinski off waivers, reports Robert Murray of FanSided. The Pirates designated Suwinski for assignment earlier this week to open up a 40-man roster spot for Marcell Ozuna.
The 27-year-old Suwinski has struggled mightily over the past two years, following a breakout 2023 campaign. The outfielder began last season on the big-league roster, but didn’t make it through April. He ended up tallying 59 games with the Pirates and 56 games at Triple-A. Suwinski mashed in the minors to the tune of a 150 wRC+. He managed just a 55 wRC+ in 178 MLB plate appearances.
With the Pirates adding outfielders Jhostynxon Garcia and Jake Mangum in separate trades this offseason, plus free agent signing Ryan O’Hearn potentially spending time on the grass, Suwinski was a long shot to contribute with the Pirates. The Ozuna addition locked up the DH spot, further limiting the chance for Suwinski to make the club. He’ll head to the Dodgers and look to rebuild his value in a different organization.
As good as Suwinski was in 2023, his swing-and-miss tendencies suggested the production was unsustainable. He hit 26 home runs and chipped in 13 steals in his first full season in the big leagues, but it came with a 32% strikeout rate. That was after a rookie year that saw him swat 19 home runs in 372 plate appearances while striking out at a 30.6% clip. Suwinski has walked at a strong 12.3% rate as a big leaguer, so he’s got the three true outcomes covered. He just hasn’t done enough of the home run part of the equation in recent seasons.
The Dodgers are set in the outfield with Teoscar Hernandez, Andy Pages, and Kyle Tucker locked into everyday roles. The right-handed Pages has been much better against lefties (.831 OPS) than righties (.722 OPS) in his career, so perhaps there’s a platoon opportunity there, but his glove is tough to take out of the lineup. Suwinski has put up -16 Defensive Runs Saved in his career as a center fielder, so he’s unlikely to be a fit in that role. Pushing Alex Call for the fourth outfielder gig is his best hope to make the roster.
Photo courtesy of Charles LeClaire, Imagn Images
Dodgers Notes: Hernandez, Phillips, Diaz
Enrique Hernandez played through most of the 2025 season with a torn muscle in his left (non-throwing) arm, and he underwent surgery to address the problem back in November. Hernandez suggested during an offseason interview with Adam Ottavino (hat tip to MLB.com’s Sonja Chen) that his recovery process would cost him “a month or two” of the regular season, but Dodgers GM Brandon Gomes suggested a slightly longer timeline, telling The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya and other reporters today that the team expected Hernandez closer to midseason.
The status of Hernandez’s elbow didn’t stop Los Angeles from re-signing the utilityman to a one-year, $4.5MM free agent contract. Hernandez hasn’t yet been placed on the 60-day injured list, so the Dodgers may think there is still some chance he might be able to return within the first two months of regular-season action. Gomes noted that Hernandez will soon start swinging, which should provide some data on the 34-year-old’s progress.
Some might argue that Hernandez only needs to be ready for October, given his history as a postseason performer. The veteran has a modest .236/.305/.403 slash line over 4152 plate appearances and 12 Major League seasons, but his postseason numbers (.272/.339/.486 in 328 PA) have made Hernandez a key part of the Dodgers’ three championship teams over the last six years.
Gomes also touched on Evan Phillips‘ recovery from Tommy John surgery, and his comparison to Phillips’ return as akin to a trade deadline acquisition suggests that the reliever should be back around late July. Since Phillips had his surgery in late May 2025, the timeline tracks with the usual TJ rehab period. Phillips himself told Jack Harris of the Los Angeles Times that he is aiming to be back with the Dodgers by August at the latest, with an eye towards being fully ready for playoff baseball.
L.A. non-tendered Phillips in November, but re-signed the former closer to a one-year, $6.5MM deal earlier this week. It’s a fairly steep price for a pitcher who may pitch around a third of the regular season, yet the Dodgers can obviously afford it, and are counting on Phillips to regain his past status as a key leverage reliever. Phillips posted a 2.14 ERA over 184 2/3 innings for Los Angeles from 2022-25, recording 45 saves during his time as the team’s closer.
Unsurprisingly for a pitcher coming off a Tommy John procedure, Phillips’ market was pretty quiet, as the Red Sox were the only team publicly known to have interest this winter. Phillips told Harris that he had “plenty of teams kick the tires and check in” during the offseason, and talks with the Dodgers only started to reignite in early February.
Phillips won’t be returning to the closer role upon his return, both due to his long layoff and the fact that the Dodgers have now signed Edwin Diaz to handle ninth-inning duties. The three-time All-Star became yet another marquee Dodgers signing when he inked a three-year, $69MM deal back in December, and the $23MM average annual value of his contract is a new record for a relief pitcher.
Diaz headed to Los Angeles after a successful six-year run with the Mets, and many expected New York to again re-sign the closer. The Mets reportedly made Diaz a three-year, $66MM offer, but Diaz accepted the Dodgers’ offer without giving the Mets “a chance to counter,” MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo writes. A source tells DiComo that New York was open to spending beyond $66MM to retain Diaz, but another source “said Diaz’s camp didn’t expect the Mets to increase their offer in a meaningful way,” which is why the closer settled on the Dodgers’ $69MM contract.
Diaz’s decision struck Mets owner Steve Cohen as “perplexing,” as he told team broadcaster Howie Rose in an interview earlier this week. “Obviously, it’s a personal decision on his part, and I thought we made a pretty respectable bid.” Diaz didn’t directly respond to Cohen’s statement, but told reporters yesterday that “I think the Dodgers did a great job recruiting me. At the end of the day, I chose to be here. I have a lot of respect for the Mets organization, players, staff, ownership. They treated me really good. I don’t have anything bad to say about them. But at the end of the day, I’m here.”
Dodgers Re-Sign Kiké Hernández
1:10pm: The Dodgers have formally announced the deal. Phillips was indeed moved to the 60-day IL to open roster space.
12:06pm: The Dodgers are bringing Kiké Hernández back for the 2026 season. The utilityman first announced the agreement on social media. It’s a one-year, $4.5MM deal for the Wasserman client, reports Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. The Dodgers will need to open a spot on the 40-man roster once the signing is final, though they can do so by placing newly re-signed reliever Evan Phillips on the 60-day injured list.
Hernández has spent the past two and a half seasons in L.A. He sandwiched a few seasons in Boston in between but has spent the majority of his career with the Dodgers. Hernández was a high-end utility player earlier in his career, playing plus defense everywhere on the diamond while hitting left-handed pitching well. His offensive production has tailed off over the past few years, but the Dodgers love him as a clubhouse presence and he remains a versatile defender.
The 34-year-old Hernández is coming off a .203/.255/.366 showing across 256 regular season plate appearances. He popped 10 home runs in 93 games but struck out at a career-high 26.6% clip. Since returning to L.A. at the 2023 trade deadline, he’s a .228/.279/.382 hitter in a little over 800 trips to the plate. His .220/.278/.393 line against left-handed pitching is well below what he did against southpaws earlier in his career.
Hernández does have a strong postseason track record, compiling an .826 OPS over 103 games in October. That didn’t really materialize last season, when he hit .250/.290/.359 with one homer in 69 plate appearances. He nevertheless clearly had the trust of skipper Dave Roberts, who penciled Hernández into the lineup for every game of their World Series run. He played mostly left field as the Dodgers lost faith in the slumping Andy Pages. That ended in triumph with the third World Series of his career, as he was also part of the 2020 and ’24 clubs.
There’s no room in the starting lineup entering the season. They signed Kyle Tucker to play right field, pushing Teoscar Hernández to left. Kiké Hernández can take some center field reps but hasn’t been a regular there since 2022. That’ll probably fall to Pages and potentially Tommy Edman, depending on how the Dodgers feel about him covering a lot of ground coming off ankle surgery. Hernández will be available off the bench and can take a few at-bats from Max Muncy at third base against left-handed pitching. He’ll offer a more defensively minded alternative to Teoscar Hernández as a late-game substitute.
Hernández and Miguel Rojas are locks for bench roles, as is a backup catcher (very likely Dalton Rushing). That’d leave one spot which will probably go to Hyeseong Kim if Edman is ready for Opening Day. Should Edman require an IL stint, Kim will draw in at second base and there’d be one spot available for Alex Call, Ryan Ward or Alex Freeland.
The Dodgers are taxed at a 110% rate as third-time payor with a CBT number above $304MM. RosterResource calculates their luxury tax payroll above $400MM. The Hernández signing will cost them $9.45MM between his salary and the accompanying $4.95MM tax bill.
Image courtesy of Michael McLoone, Imagn Images.
Dodgers, Enrique Hernández Open To Reunion
The Dodgers have already retained one clubhouse favorite this offseason, re-signing infielder Miguel Rojas to a one-year deal. Utilityman Kiké Hernández could be next on the list. Fabian Ardaya and Katie Woo of The Athletic reported the two sides are interested in a reunion. Hernández is currently recovering from elbow surgery on his non-throwing arm.
Hernández has spent nine of his 12 big-league seasons with the Dodgers. He re-upped with the team on a one-year, $6.5MM deal this past offseason. Hernández has filled a versatile role across multiple stints in LA and has three World Series rings with the club (2020, 2024, 2025).
The 34-year-old is coming off one of his worst offensive seasons, though the elbow issue could’ve played a factor. Hernández hit just .203 across 93 games, while missing most of July and August with the injury. The veteran started every playoff game for the Dodgers, managing a .250 batting average, albeit with an elevated strikeout rate. Hernández accounted for LA’s only run in Game 5 of the World Series when he homered off of Trey Yesavage. He was also in left field for Andy Pages‘ season-saving catch in Game 7.
Hernández’s ability to handle several defensive positions is likely the main factor in a return to LA. The defending champs don’t have many major holes, but the roster has some soft spots that could be patched by Hernández. The Dodgers currently have Tommy Edman penciled in at center field, though he struggled with injuries and poor performance last season. Some combination of Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland will likely handle second base, but neither has much MLB experience. There’s room for Hernández to carve out a part-time gig again, even if it’s just as a platoon bat spelling Kim and Max Muncy.
RosterResource has LA’s payroll at $337MM for next season. While that’s a massive number, it’s a significant dropoff from last season’s mark, which neared $400MM. The potential commitment to Hernández would likely be similar to the pact he got last offseason. The Dodgers also have luxury tax fees to consider, but Hernández’s deal won’t make much of a dent.