{"id":474734,"date":"2026-02-17T23:30:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-17T23:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/474734\/"},"modified":"2026-02-17T23:30:08","modified_gmt":"2026-02-17T23:30:08","slug":"dodgers-teoscar-hernandez-slimmer-and-ready-to-return-to-left-field-orange-county-register","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/474734\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers\u2019 Teoscar Hernandez slimmer and ready to return to left field \u2013 Orange County Register"},"content":{"rendered":"

GLENDALE, Ariz. \u2014 A strained groin muscle in May landed Teoscar Hernandez on the injured list and lingered for the rest of the year. But the real injury might have been to his pride.<\/p>\n

Re-signed by the Dodgers before last season, Hernandez moved back to his preferred position in right field. By midseason, though, his defense there became a liability for the Dodgers and the subject of criticism<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The 33-year-old Hernandez\u2019s offseason response was evident when he arrived in spring camp this week. He has dropped 12 pounds, he said, with a renewed focus on getting in better shape for the 2026 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cRight now, I\u2019m feeling really good \u2013 back to the way I used to be,\u201d he said Tuesday. \u201cMy whole career I used to be 204, 205 (pounds), that range. Last year was a little over. But I\u2019m back to normal right now.<\/p>\n

\u201c(Last year) I wasn\u2019t moving the way I know I can move. That was one of my goals for the offseason \u2013 trying to get back in the shape I used to be, the weights that I know I can perform really good. That was my main goal this offseason.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though he spent less than two weeks on the IL following the groin injury in early May<\/a> and played with a bruised foot in July, Hernandez acknowledged the lower-body injuries affected him all year. Hernandez was hitting .313 with a .933 OPS and 34 RBIs in his first 33 games when he suffered the groin injury. He hit .223 with a .672 OPS the rest of the regular season.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow that everything is over \u2013 I didn\u2019t get back in my health when I got back from my injury. I was fighting through it,\u201d Hernandez admitted Tuesday. \u201cObviously, I didn\u2019t say anything. I just wanted to be on the field and trying to help the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou have to use your legs. When you put a lot of weight on your legs and they\u2019re not right, you\u2019re not going to move the way you want to move at home plate, defense, running, all aspects of baseball.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hernandez\u2019s pride kept taking hits during the offseason. The Dodgers signed Kyle Tucker as a free agent. Tucker will play right field with Hernandez moving back to left<\/a>. And there were rumors that the Dodgers had gauged trade interest in Hernandez over the winter.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt this point, I\u2019ve been traded two times in my career,\u201d said Hernandez who went from Houston to Toronto at the trade deadline in 2017, then from Toronto to Seattle following the 2022 season. \u201cIt\u2019s good to win and be part of this (in Los Angeles). Obviously, I don\u2019t want to go. But if they feel they can be a better team, they\u2019re going to do it. As much as I like to be here, for them it has the business side of it and if they feel they can be better trading me and getting somebody else, they\u2019re going to do it. And for me, I\u2019m just going to play whenever I have to play. That\u2019s my job.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts called Hernandez after the Tucker signing and told him he would be giving up right field to the newcomer.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was short,\u201d Hernandez said of the conversation. \u201cHe told me, \u2018You\u2019re moving to left field.\u2019 (I said) \u2018OK. Let\u2019s do it.\u2019 That\u2019s it. I\u2019m ready in any way they need me. I just want to be there, be on the field and play every day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts defended Hernandez\u2019s effort in right field at times last year and said this spring that his defense \u201creally, really ticked up\u201d after an August series at Coors Field when it became a major issue<\/a>. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman acknowledged \u201cwe had some conversations\u201d after the series in Colorado and \u201chis effort level really stepped up.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cTeoscar looks great,\u201d Friedman said Tuesday. \u201cI saw some interviews over the winter where he said his goal was to win a Gold Glove. I love that.\u201d<\/p>\n

PITCHER PROGRESS<\/p>\n

Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Shohei Ohtani threw to hitters in live batting practice during Tuesday\u2019s workout. It was the first time facing hitters for Ohtani this spring while Yamamoto progressed to throwing two simulated innings.<\/p>\n

Yamamoto is expected to pitch in at least one Cactus League game before he leaves to join Team Japan for the World Baseball Classic. It is \u201cunlikely\u201d that Ohtani pitches in the Cactus League, Roberts said.<\/p>\n

Ohtani hit 98 mph during his one simulated inning Tuesday. Dalton Rushing caught him and said his stuff was \u201celectric.\u201d<\/p>\n

Friedman said there was \u201ca really good conversation\u201d with Ohtani about why the team does not want him to pitch in the WBC.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe sat down and talked to him about it,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cJust coming off the (2023 Tommy John) surgery, coming off the year he had, pitching through October, just the quick turnaround at that kind of intensity, coming off surgery. And then obviously, we have designs of playing through October this year, and Shohei being a big part of that on the mound. That, coupled with the idea that he wants to pitch for the next eight years, we want him to pitch for the next eight years, just trying to be really mindful of all of that.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo we sat down, had the conversation with him. He understood it. The competitor in him doesn\u2019t love it, but he understood it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ohtani said he is not sure how much he will be able to continue his pitching buildup while playing for Team Japan, but Friedman said he is confident Ohtani will be taking a turn in the Dodgers\u2019 starting rotation from the beginning of the regular season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhere he is right now, and we\u2019ll continue his throwing progression, but not necessarily getting into games,\u201d Friedman said. \u201cAnd then we\u2019ll figure out what he\u2019s able to accomplish while he\u2019s in Japan on those off days. And then we\u2019ll be able to slide him back in here, into our rotation, as quickly as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"GLENDALE, Ariz. \u2014 A strained groin muscle in May landed Teoscar Hernandez on the injured list and lingered…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":474735,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[65],"tags":[2323,363,99],"class_list":["post-474734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mlb","tag-los-angeles-dodgers","tag-mlb","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=474734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/474734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474735"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=474734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=474734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=474734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}