It has been exactly one month since Kiké Hernandez played his most recent game for the Los Angeles Dodgers, as he's been missing ever since he sustained an elbow injury in the aftermath of a 6-4 loss to the Houston Astros. Hernandez sustained inflammation on his left elbow, although it seems as though this knock he sustained was more serious than initially expected — with manager Dave Roberts giving an unfortunate update that would worry Dodgers fans even further.
Hernandez, who's been sitting on the injured list, is not guaranteed to return this season, as per the latest update from the Dodgers manager.
“Certainly there is no guarantee, but we’re hopeful that he’ll be back,” Roberts said, per Gabe Smallson of Dodgers Nation.
The 33-year-old utilityman has tried a lot of measures to expedite his recovery process. But nothing seems to have worked quite yet for the Dodgers veteran.
As per reports, Hernandez underwent a cortisone shot, tried to rehab his elbow, and used the age-old tactic of giving his injured body part the rest it needs, but nothing seems to have worked for the Dodgers' utilityman.
On the surface, Hernandez doesn't appear to be a major loss for the Dodgers this season. Before he went down with an injury, he was slashing just .195/.259/.367 in 2025. That mark isn't good enough to move the needle for a Dodgers team that's been struggling to score the baseball as of late.
However, with less than two months to go before the playoffs begin, the Dodgers would most definitely want to have Hernandez back on the active roster. He's an esteemed playoff performer, and the Dodgers would be worse off without their October hero. Expect LA to do whatever it takes to try and get Hernandez back to full strength in the coming weeks.
Kiké Hernandez was electric for the Dodgers in last year's playoffs
Hernandez got his big break in the majors with the Dodgers back in 2014, and he's always displayed a penchant for showing up on the grandest stage. And he could not have done any better last year for the Dodgers in their World Series run — coming up with one big hit after another as they hoisted the crown.
Last October, Hernandez slashed .294/.357/.451 for the Dodgers in the playoffs while playing across the diamond. He has 15 career playoff home runs — the same as Babe Ruth's tally. He has an OPS of .875 in the playoffs compared to .706 in the regular season.
