{"id":752611,"date":"2026-06-22T00:49:13","date_gmt":"2026-06-22T00:49:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/752611\/"},"modified":"2026-06-22T00:49:13","modified_gmt":"2026-06-22T00:49:13","slug":"teoscar-hernandez-on-track-for-june-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/752611\/","title":{"rendered":"Teoscar Hernandez On Track For June Return"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez<\/a> is starting a rehab assignment on Tuesday at Triple-A. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters, including Katie Woo of The Athletic<\/a>, that Hernandez could be activated for a series against the A\u2019s beginning on June 29. He\u2019s been on the injured list for just over three weeks with a left hamstring strain.<\/p>\n

The initial timeline<\/a> for Hernandez was a month-long absence, and he\u2019s perfectly on track to meet that target date. He\u2019s dealing with a Grade 1 strain. Hernandez is slated for four to five games with Oklahoma City. The Comets play six games against Reno from June 23-28.<\/p>\n

The Dodgers have taken a more cautious approach to Hernandez\u2019s soft-tissue injury this time around. The veteran missed less than two weeks with a groin strain last season. Hernandez had a .933 OPS when he went down in early May. He put up a .672 mark after returning from the injury.<\/p>\n

Hernandez seemed to be picking up where he left off last season, slashing an underwhelming .235\/.303\/.398 through April. Then he turned it on in May, hitting .325 with seven extra-base hits. Hernandez pulled up lame on a groundout against the Rockies on May 27. He was immediately replaced in left field. The Dodgers put him on the IL two days later.<\/p>\n

With Hernandez embarking on a rehab assignment, he\u2019s now ahead of catcher Will Smith<\/a> in terms of returning to the majors. The backstop went down<\/a> with neck inflammation in early June. The Dodgers downplayed the issue at the time, but Roberts told reporters that Smith is not expected to return until July (h\/t Sonja Chen of MLB.com<\/a>). He isn\u2019t traveling with the team on its upcoming road trip, which will include stops in Minnesota, San Diego, and Sacramento. It\u2019s unclear if Smith will need a rehab stint.<\/p>\n

Smith last suited up on June 5 against the Angels. He was in the initial lineup the following day, but was scratched. The backstop was labeled day-to-day throughout the next series, then finally hit the injured list on June 11. With the upcoming road trip off the table, Smith\u2019s earliest opportunity to return will be a July 2 matchup at home against the Padres.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hard to knock above-league-average production from a catcher, but Smith\u2019s 104 wRC+ is a bit disappointing considering his track record. Smith has been at least 17% better than league average in all but one season of his career. He\u2019s coming off one of his best years as a big leaguer, hitting a career-high .296 with a 153 wRC+ in 2025.<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s absence has meant consistent playing time for Dalton Rushing<\/a>. The highly-touted bat has cooled off after a torrid start to the season, but he still has a near-.800 OPS in June. Rushing has easily outperformed Smith at the plate, but the glove has been a bit of an issue. Rushing has recorded -3 Defensive Runs Saved across 268 1\/3 innings. After back-to-back subpar seasons on defense, Smith has racked up 5 DRS in just 48 games this year.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Jeff Hanisch, Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernandez is starting a rehab assignment on Tuesday at Triple-A. Manager Dave Roberts told reporters,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":752612,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[435],"tags":[49,48,462,82,10166,66916],"class_list":["post-752611","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-mlb","tag-sports","tag-teoscar-hernandez","tag-will-smith-catcher"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752611","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=752611"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/752611\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/752612"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=752611"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=752611"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=752611"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}