Teoscar Hernandez left Friday’s 3-1 Dodgers loss to the Guardians in the first inning after the slugger was hit on the left ankle by a pitch from Cleveland starter Matthew Boyd. Hernandez was in obvious discomfort when leaving the field, though the injury has been termed a foot contusion for now since initial x-rays were negative.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts told reporters (including MLB.com’s Juan Toribio) that more tests will be done on Hernandez’s ankle, but a trip to the injured list seems unavoidable.
“(Hernandez is) as tough as they come and he could barely move his foot … He doesn’t come out of games,” Roberts said. “Afterwards, the pain typically subsides for him, but it didn’t. It’s concerning.”
More will be known about Hernandez’s status later Saturday, yet since it seems like he’ll certainly be going on the IL, the question is now whether or not we’ll see Hernandez on the field again in 2024. Beyond just the regular season, the Dodgers certainly hope to be playing deep into the playoffs, yet such an extended run would obviously be a lot more difficult if Hernandez isn’t available. Winning the NL West is also not a foregone conclusion, as the Dodgers hold a four-game lead on the Padres and a 5.5-game lead on the Diamondbacks.
Considering how Hernandez is also a free agent this winter, it is also conceivable that Friday might’ve marked the end of the left fielder’s tenure in Los Angeles altogether. After a down year with the Mariners in 2023, Hernandez inked a one-year, $23.5M contract with L.A. last winter with the idea that he could make a quick return to free agency this coming offseason on the heels of a rebound year. That scenario has played out exactly as Hernandez had intended, as he has hit .266/.331/.488 with 28 homers over 581 plate appearances and earned a spot on the NL All-Star team.
Perhaps the key number in that statline is simply the number of plate appearances, as Hernandez has been one of the Dodgers’ pillars of stability amidst an injury-plagued season. Almost literally every member of the L.A. pitching staff has spent time on the IL or had their season already ended by injuries, and Mookie Betts (fractured hand) and Max Muncy (oblique strain) also each missed months of time before returning in August.
Just when it seemed as though Los Angeles finally had its first-choice lineup all intact, however, the position-player depth will again be tested if Hernandez misses time as expected. Any of Enrique Hernandez, Chris Taylor, Andy Pages or Tommy Edman could be cycled into left field, though the Dodgers had also been using the right-handed hitting Hernandez and Taylor at second and third base, to shield the lefty-swinging Muncy and Gavin Lux against some southpaw pitching. James Outman is the most probable Triple-A call-up, as Outman’s presence would further add to the outfield mix while perhaps keeping Lux and Enrique Hernandez more limited to infield duty.