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The Los Angeles Dodgers have had a difficult season with injuries to this point. While they are in first place in the National League West, they have not had their full complement throughout the majority of the season.
While most of the injuries have impacted the pitching staff, the Dodgers have been without utilityman Kike Hernandez since the early part of July. He injured his elbow prior to leaving the lineup, but he has not played a game since July 5. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts appears to be getting a bit frustrated because he's not sure when Hernandez will return to active duty.
When Roberts was asked about a possible return to the game action by Hernandez, he could not provide a specific answer. He said that Hernandez was in a holding pattern and that he was starting to get frustrated by the lack of progress.
Hernandez is not having a big offensive year for the Dodgers. He is slashing .195/.259/..367 with 8 home runs and 22 runs batted in. However, Hernandez can play multiple positions in the infield and outfield, and that has made him a valuable player for the Dodgers in the past. It is clear that Roberts would like to see Hernandez return to the lineup sooner rather than later.
Dodgers built big lead in NL West, but they have been struggling
The Dodgers have a 4.5 game lead over the San Diego Padres in the National League West and 6.5-game edge over the San Francisco Giants, but they had a double-figure edge earlier in the year.
The Dodgers suffered a 2-0 defeat to the Milwaukee Brewers in their first game after the All-Star break, and they have lost 8 of their last 10 games. Their offense is supposed to be the team's strength, but Roberts has seen the team score two runs or less in 7 of their last 10 games.
Even though the Dodgers are struggling to score runs right now, it would seem that they could break out at any time. They have Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman as the anchors of their lineup and they have an excellent supporting cast with Teoscar Hernandez, Max Muncy (currently injured) and Will Smith. Ohtani has a league-leading 32 home runs and seven of his teammates have contributed double-digit home run totals.
Yoshinobu Yamamoto has been the Dodgers most consistent starting pitcher to this point in the season. He has made 19 starts and he has an 8-7 record with a 2.59 earned run average. Yamamoto has struck out 116 batters in 104.1 innings.
Ohtani has been working his way back into the rotation. He did not pitch in 2024 because he was coming off Tommy John surgery (his second) and he has been limited to one or two innings in his five outings. The Dodgers would like to see Ohtani pitch five or six innings during his starts at some point later in the season.
