The Los Angeles Dodgers will be without Teoscar Hernández for the next couple of weeks as he was placed on the 10-day injured list Tuesday with a left groin strain.
Manager Dave Roberts said an MRI revealed a Grade 1 strain for Hernández, with his injury involving the adductor as well. The initial expectation was he could miss a few weeks and possibly more.
Fortunately, Hernández and the Dodgers seem to have caught a break and his recovery might be quicker than anticipated.
In any case, the Dodgers will have to figure out how to replace Hernández’s production in the lineup, which will be a tall task. Roberts revealed they mainly will utilize platoon matchups while Hernández is out, as seen on SportsNet LA:
“I just think it’s going to be more of a platoon-based roster right now. And we’ll kind of go from there.”
The Dodgers have slid Andy Pages back to his natural spot in right field, while filling the vacancy in center field with a rotation. Left-handed hitters have started all three games in Hernández’s absence, with James Outman receiving two of those and Hyeseong Kim starting the other.
The Dodgers face their first left-handed starter on Friday with Eduardo Rodríguez on the mound for the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Chris Taylor, who is 1-for-6 against left-handed pitching this season, is the most likely candidate to platoon in center field. Kiké Hernández is their other option, as he logged 54 innings at the position last season.
The Dodgers also figure to sit Michael Conforto against Rodríguez as well.
Hernández was the Dodgers’ best hitter in April, batting .330/.326/.638 with eight doubles, seven home runs and 24 RBI. He hit .448/.467/.690 in his last seven games before the injury.
Hernández’s slugging percentage on the season ranks third among all players, and he is also in the top-15 in for batting average and on-base plus slugging. At the time of going on the injured list, Hernández was leading the Majors with 34 RBI.
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