Dodgers’ Teoscar Hernandez shares crucial update on injury timeline

The defending champion Los Angeles Dodgers are no strangers to adversity, and one of their lineup’s main contributors will have to miss time.

All-Star Teoscar Hernandez was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain ahead of Friday night’s game against the Philadelphia Phillies. He originally suffered the injury two days earlier during Wednesday’s victory over the Colorado Rockies.

The 33-year-old recently shared a rough update on when he could potentially be back on the field.

“Teoscar Hernández said his timeline to return is roughly a month,” Jack Harris of the California Post tweeted. “Since he only had a Grade 1 hamstring strain, he added that it could be sooner — but that he’s also not gonna rush his recovery, to make sure it doesn’t become a lingering problem this year.”

Across 51 games this season, Hernandez has mashed seven home runs and posted a .785 OPS. The Cotui native went through a similar injury last May, a left groin strain, that sidelined him for two weeks but lingered during the campaign.

“Once he gets going, we’re hoping it’ll be a quick return, and we’ll try to get him some rehab at-bats,” Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes told Sonja Chen of MLB.com. “When that happened last year, we probably rushed it a bit on that front, so we’re kind of getting treatment for the next however many days, and then as he starts getting into things, how he’s responding, we’ll see. But it’s not as severe as we had thought it was.”

The timing is less than ideal. Before the injury, Hernandez had hit three home runs, collected 14 RBIs, and posted a .346 batting average over his last 15 games.

“Disappointing,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “He’s been playing so well, and he’s a big part of what we’re doing. So to lose him for any length of time is not great.”