{"id":125547,"date":"2026-07-10T23:04:51","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T03:04:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=125547"},"modified":"2026-07-10T23:04:51","modified_gmt":"2026-07-11T03:04:51","slug":"kike-hernandez-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/07\/10\/kike-hernandez-return\/","title":{"rendered":"Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez on Track to Return Soon"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>On the eve of the All-Star Break, the Los Angeles Dodgers received some welcome news. Utility man <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hernaen02.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-07-10_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a> may be on the cusp of returning soon after the Midsummer Classic, according to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. Hern\u00e1ndez has been <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/05\/27\/dodgers-injury-bug-hernandez\/\" target=\"_self\">out since Memorial Day weekend<\/a> with an oblique tear, suffered just after he <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/05\/26\/kike-hernandez-dodgers-return-memorial-day-2026\/\" target=\"_self\">returned to the active roster<\/a>. This piece of information came straight from Hern\u00e1ndez, who said that if rehab continues to progress, he will return after the first road trip of the second half. This is considerably sooner than what was originally thought.<\/p>\n<p class=\"alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 1280px\"><smartframe-embed class=\"smartframe_wp_element\" customer-id=\"b0c95bc04383cef69c6b47df872135cf\" image-id=\"WmOBuiURXff8\" style=\"width: 100%; display: inline-flex; max-width: 3072px; aspect-ratio: 3072\/2047;\" ><\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n<h2>Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez Eyeing Early Second-Half Return<\/h2>\n<h2>Short-Lived Recovery<\/h2>\n<p>Hern\u00e1ndez, who was <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/02\/17\/dodgers-who-wont-be-ready-by-opening-day\/\" target=\"_self\">on the injured list<\/a> coming out of spring training this year, has uncharacteristically missed all but two games this season. The infielder\/outfielder has played all the positions on the baseball diamond except for catcher. He spent a chunk of 2025 on the sideline as well due to an elbow injury, thanks to an awkward slide. He made his return this year with a bang. He <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/05\/26\/kike-hernandez-dodgers-return-memorial-day-2026\/\" target=\"_self\">had<\/a> several runs batted in and a home run. Ironically, it was the swing on the round-tripper that landed him on the IL for the second time in as many days. He was originally projected to be out of commission for two months at minimum.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez said he expects to be active during the Dodgers\u2019 first homestand of the second half, if all continues to go well with his rehab.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) <a  href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FabianArdaya\/status\/2075727346137747960?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">July 10, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.x.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<h2>A Man for the Moment<\/h2>\n<p>The versatility of Hern\u00e1ndez is an important asset at any time of the year, and it is something the Dodgers value on their roster. Hern\u00e1ndez is a prime example. However, the charismatic fan-favorite admits he gets bored during the regular season. Hern\u00e1ndez hits for a .240 batting average with some pop, which surfaces during opportune times. However, he thrives the most during the postseason. His average climbs to .333, and he has 16 career postseason homers across 10 years.<\/p>\n<h2>The Good News Doesn&#8217;t Stop<\/h2>\n<p>Closer <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/search\/search.fcgi?pid=diazed04,diaz--005edw,diazed03&amp;search=Edwin+D\u00edaz&amp;utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-07-10_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Edwin D\u00edaz<\/a>, who <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/04\/20\/dodgers-place-edwin-diaz-on-injured-list\/\" target=\"_self\">landed on the injured list<\/a>\u00a0early in the season, has completed several bullpen sessions, including facing hitters. He is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment soon. Likewise, starting pitcher <a  target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/s\/snellbl01.shtml?utm_medium=linker&amp;utm_source=lastwordonsports.com&amp;utm_campaign=2026-07-10_br\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Blake Snell<\/a> is pain-free for the first time in two years and <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2026\/06\/23\/dodgers-timeline\/\" target=\"_self\">is progressing<\/a> well en route to his return.<\/p>\n<p>It appears, for the moment, that the Dodgers are getting some big pieces back early in the second half.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>On the eve of the All-Star Break, the Los Angeles Dodgers received some welcome news. Utility man Kik\u00e9 Hern\u00e1ndez may be on the cusp of returning soon after the Midsummer Classic, according to Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. Hern\u00e1ndez has been out since Memorial Day weekend with an oblique tear, suffered just after he returned [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5226,"featured_media":67301,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33,1071,35],"tags":[1122,1931,2915],"class_list":["post-125547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-dodgers","category-mlb","category-news","tag-blake-snell","tag-edwin-diaz","tag-kike-hernandez"],"modified_by":"Lewis Masella, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5226"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125547"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":125573,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125547\/revisions\/125573"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/67301"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}