{"id":612362,"date":"2026-03-07T23:11:36","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T23:11:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/612362\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T23:11:36","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T23:11:36","slug":"dodgers-kike-hernandezs-bold-move-to-help-puerto-rico-in-wbc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/612362\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers’ Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez’s Bold Move to Help Puerto Rico in WBC"},"content":{"rendered":"

Los Angeles Dodgers<\/a> utility player Kike Hernandez is out injured, recovering from an elbow injury, but that has not stopped him from supporting his teammates on the Puerto Rico team. <\/a><\/p>\n

Hernandez underwent elbow surgery in November, after he played through the pain during the stretch run of the season.<\/p>\n

He spent time on the injured list during the regular season with the injury, though he came back and played every game of the postseason at multiple positions.<\/p>\n

In a somber tone, he announced that he was going to miss the World Baseball Classic due to his recovery.<\/p>\n

\"MarMar 17, 2023; Miami, Florida, USA; Puerto Rico left fielder Eddie Rosario (17) celebrates with center fielder Enrique Hernandez (5) and pitcher Alex Claudio (58) after hitting a home run during the first inning against Mexico at LoanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n

While unable to play, Hernandez remains with the team, going so far as to dye his hair platinum blonde, a practice the Puerto Rican team follows during the tournament.<\/p>\n

The 2026 WBC is even more special for Hernandez and the team \u2014 Puerto Rico is hosting pool play for the first time since 2013.<\/p>\n

How has Hernandez helped Puerto Rico?<\/p>\n

According to The Athletic\u2019s Katie Woo<\/a>, Hernandez helped the team recruit Nolan Arenado, whose mother was of Puerto Rican descent.<\/p>\n

He organized a dinner with Arenado and his new Dodgers teammate, Edwin Diaz<\/a>, who both launched a full-court press and explained the team\u2019s culture.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a guy who has represented Puerto Rico for a few years now, I let him know how much it means to me that a guy with his status decided to help us out and represent us,\u201d Hern\u00e1ndez said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHow much it means to us that he\u2019s willing to switch jerseys. He could have easily said, \u2018If I\u2019m not USA, I\u2019m not going to do it.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Hernandez even got Arenado to bleach his hair, buzz his longer hair, and hook him up with his hairdresser.<\/p>\n

He will be in attendance for the team\u2019s first two games, on Friday and Saturday, before returning for his rehabilitation at Dodgers camp.<\/p>\n

While with the team and on one of Puerto Rico\u2019s youngest rosters due to insurance issues, Hernandez can help provide his leadership and clubhouse energy, which he is well-known for in the Dodgers organization.<\/p>\n

Preferably, Hernandez would have been with the team for the whole tournament, but with a target date of late May, when he is set to come off the 60-Day injured list, he can\u2019t afford to spend more time in his native country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t want to delay my rehab,\u201d Hernandez added. \u201cI just want to go and experience it and be with the guys.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel like even though I\u2019m not part of it, I can still be one of the leaders of that group. Unfortunately, I can\u2019t be there for the whole tournament, but if I can be there for even two games and be part of it in Puerto Rico in some capacity, that would be pretty cool for me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"App<\/p>\n

LA Baseball Report<\/p>\n

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GET<\/a> \u00d7 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Los Angeles Dodgers utility player Kike Hernandez is out injured, recovering from an elbow injury, but that has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":612363,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2406],"tags":[5,39,1152,5953,1165,4332,4333,774,57,3224,4331,4],"class_list":["post-612362","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-baseball","tag-dodgers","tag-enrique-hernandez","tag-kike-hernandez","tag-la","tag-la-dodgers","tag-ladodgers","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesdodgers","tag-mlb"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@mlb\/116190427379137260","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612362","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612362"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612362\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/612363"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612362"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612362"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612362"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}