The Los Angeles Dodgers reinstated Edwin Ríos from the 60-day injured list and optioned him to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Wednesday. Room on the 40-man roster was created Monday when Tony Wolters was designated for assignment.
Ríos began a rehab assignment with Oklahoma City on July 28 and went the maximum 20 days permitted for position players. Thus, the Dodgers were required to activate him Wednesday and either add Ríos to their roster or send him to the Minors.
He had been on the 10-day IL since June 3 with a right hamstring strain that Dodgers manager Dave Roberts described as a “Grade 3 or Grade 4 tear.”
That came as Ríos was getting an opportunity to essentially play every day due to Max Muncy being on the 10-day IL, and he impressed in those starts. Overall this season, 28-year-old appeared has appeared in 27 games and batted .244/.293/.500 with seven home runs, a .341 wOBA and 121 wRC+.
“It is not going to require surgery, but it’s going to be a handful of weeks until we even consider having him back,” Roberts said at the time of Ríos’ injury.
The Dodgers transferred him to the 60-day IL on June 22 as one of the corresponding moves to selecting the contract of Stefen Romero.
Ríos had a 12-game hitting streak during his rehab assignment, going 16-for-50 with five doubles and one home run during the stretch. It’s the longest hitting streak by an OKC player since Ríos hit safely in 14 straight games in 2019.
While on the rehab assignment, Ríos started at third base and the designated hitter. He made the Dodgers’ Opening Day roster this season for the first time in his career and presumably will get recalled once active rosters expand in September.
Ríos impressed Freeman
While Ríos was making an impact for the Dodgers off the bench earlier this year, his contributions were not lost on Freddie Freeman.
“It is very, very hard to not play every day and be able to put up quality ABs,” Freeman said in May. “He’s been doing it every single time he’s in the lineup.
More must-reads: