{"id":746920,"date":"2026-07-09T04:30:16","date_gmt":"2026-07-09T04:30:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/746920\/"},"modified":"2026-07-09T04:30:16","modified_gmt":"2026-07-09T04:30:16","slug":"kike-hernandezs-dodgers-return-delayed-by-one-rule","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/746920\/","title":{"rendered":"Kike Hernandez\u2019s Dodgers Return Delayed by One Rule"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Dodgers can have Kike Hernandez back relatively soon, adding a quality depth player to the active roster, though there is an obstacle in the way of his return.<\/p>\n

Hernandez missed the start of the season due to elbow surgery<\/a>, which led to his debut coming more than a month into the season.<\/p>\n

However, he ended up getting put back on the injured list with an oblique strain<\/a>, something that he picked up during his rehabilitation assignment in Triple-A, but he played through for two games.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers\u2019 fan favorite went 4-for-4 in his return, along with a home run, looking to be hitting better than he ever has.<\/p>\n

\"MayMay 25, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Enrique Hernandez (8) hits a RBI double in the third inning against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

It was a crushing blow for the Dodgers, who looked like they were getting their veteran back and getting into the swing of things before the postseason.<\/p>\n

Despite being known for his postseason work as a hitter, he hit only .250\/.290\/.359 in 2025, a step down from his playoff averages.<\/p>\n

Luckily for the Dodgers, Hernandez will likely not miss too much time, and he looks good on the field during warm-ups.<\/p>\n

\"JulJul 6, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers catcher Dalton Rushing (68) celebrates with second baseman Miguel Rojas (72) and Kike Hernandez after hitting a walk-off single in the 11th inning against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

\u201cHonestly, he looks normal,\u201d Roberts said. \u201cIt\u2019s really, I don\u2019t want to say miraculous, but I\u2019m really in disbelief how well he\u2019s responded, given the injury. \u2026 Swinging, throwing, everything.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s no compensation or feeling it. Certainly a quick healer. He\u2019s working hard to get back.\u201d<\/p>\n

How much longer will Kike Hernandez be out?<\/p>\n

On July 8th, Roberts said that Hernandez can go away on a rehab assignment right now, but the Dodgers have not sent him out yet.<\/p>\n

In fact, the team needs to wait 20 days before they can send him again, per Dave Roberts.<\/p>\n

Considering that Hernandez is ready to start an assignment, but the Dodgers are likely facing an MLB rule hurdle stopping him from going out.<\/p>\n

Dave Roberts says Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez could go on a rehab assignment right now but he\u2019s about 20 days away from being eligible.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Dodgers Nation (@DodgersNation) July 8, 2026<\/a> <\/p>\n

Hernandez is taking part in live batting practice, facing off against fellow Puerto Rican Edwin Diaz<\/a>. For the time being, this will be all that Hernandez can do, though hopefully, his rehab assignment ends up being relatively short.<\/p>\n

\"App<\/p>\n

LA Baseball Report<\/p>\n

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GET<\/a> \u00d7 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Dodgers can have Kike Hernandez back relatively soon, adding a quality depth player to the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":746921,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2406],"tags":[5,39,5953,1165,4332,4333,774,57,3224,4331,4],"class_list":["post-746920","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-baseball","tag-dodgers","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\/116888143457253469","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746920","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=746920"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/746920\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/746921"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=746920"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=746920"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=746920"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}