Two days after straining his left hamstring, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez landed on the 10-day injured list Friday, and the man who replaced him in left field was sent to the minors, too.
Hyeseong Kim had never played left field before Wednesday, when Hernandez got hurt running out a ground ball in the second inning against the Colorado Rockies.
Kim finished that game, and the team was idle on Thursday before he was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday ahead of the opener of Los Angeles’ three-game home series against the Philadelphia Phillies.
To fill the roster vacancies, the Dodgers recalled infielder/outfielder Ryan Ward from Triple-A Oklahoma City and re-signed infielder/outfielder Santiago Espinal.
Hernandez, 33, has a .276 batting average, seven home runs and 31 RBIs through 51 games this year. He was on a hot streak when he got hurt, hitting .375 with three home runs and 14 RBIs over his past 14 games.
The two-time All-Star owns a career .261 average, .317 on-base percentage, .482 slugging percentage, 224 home runs and 692 RBIs in 1,150 career games. He has played for the Houston Astros (2016-17), the Toronto Blue Jays (2017-22), the Seattle Mariners (2023) and the Dodgers.
Kim, 27, produced a .259/.323/.328 batting line with one homer and 11 RBIs in 43 games this year. He made his major league debut for Los Angeles last year, batting .280/.314/.385 with three home runs and 17 RBIs in 71 games.
Espinal, 31, was outrighted to Oklahoma City on Thursday after clearing waivers. He hit .220 with one homer and four RBIs in 26 games for Los Angeles this season before he was designated for assignment on Monday.
Ward, 28, joined the Dodgers for his major league debut last month. He went 2-for-6 across two games during Freddie Freeman’s stay on the paternity list.
Ward was hitting .254 with six home runs and 31 RBIs in 47 games in Triple-A this year after amassing 36 home runs and 122 RBIs for Oklahoma City last year. He has 156 home runs over seven minor league seasons.
Left-hander Blake Snell, who had left elbow surgery earlier this month, was transferred to the 60-day IL to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Espinal.
–Field Level Media
