Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández made his first rehab appearance Tuesday after suffering a Grade 1 hamstring strain in May.
In his second at-bat of his first Triple-A game since 2019, Hernandez hit a two-run homer to left field to bring some life to a Comets team which hadn’t scored up to that point. The homer was his only hit of the night, and it drove in two runs.
Hernandez landed on the injured list May 29 after pulling up while trying to beat out a ground ball against the Colorado Rockies. According to The Athletic’s Katie Woo, Hernandez will play four or five games in Triple-A before hopefully returning to the team before the end of the June.
“Teoscar Hernández will start a rehab assignment with Triple A OKC (in Reno) starting Tuesday,” Woo wrote on X. “Plan is for him to play 4-5 games. If all goes well, he could be activated before the series against the A’s at the end of the month.”
Before his injury, Hernandez looked to finish off what had been a fantastic month of May. He batted .325 for the Dodgers last month, hitting three homers and driving in 14 runs. He had an .882 OPS in May, pulling his season OPS up to .784 from .701 to start the month.
Who Will the Dodgers send Down When Teoscar Hernandez is Back?
While the Dodgers are surely glad to have Hernandez back so soon, they’ll have to make a difficult decision whenever it is he makes his return.
Alex Call and Ryan Ward have cycled in and out of the outfield during Hernandez’s absence, and the most likely choice for the Dodgers is to send one of those two down. Call improved his OPS to .733 on the season with a monster night against the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday, while Ward has been trending downwards after an exciting couple of weeks in the majors.
The Dodgers have another option, though, as Kyle Tucker wen’t down with injury in Monday’s game. Neither Tucker nor Dave Roberts seem too concerned about the injury, but if he has to go on the injured list, they’ll be able to reinstate Hernandez without sending down Call or Ward.
Are you excited to see Teoscar Hernández back with the team?
