Los Angeles Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman addressed the way forward for Enrique Hernandez, the spunky fan-favorite utility man, who’s a free agent.
Hernandez lately underwent surgical procedure on his left elbow. He had performed by way of an harm to the identical elbow final season, regardless of lacking a while because of it on the injured listing.
He’s set to overlook the beginning of the 2026 season as he recovers, probably resulting in his signing taking place afterward within the offseason.
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Throughout MLB winter conferences, Friedman spoke about the opportunity of retaining Hernandez for an additional 12 months amid his availability in the marketplace.
“We’ll by no means shut the door on Kiké. The worth he offers on the sector together with his versatility, the worth he offers within the clubhouse. He’s received to do what’s greatest, however we’ll see how that performs out,” Friedman informed Dodgers Nation’s Doug McKain.
Hernandez was set to play for his native Puerto Rico within the World Baseball Traditional, although he’ll now watch on the sidelines because of his harm.
It’s fairly superb how effectively he performed regardless of such a significant harm. He as soon as once more delivered October magic, making performs within the outfield and delivering clutch hits, although his efficiency got here at a value, as he revealed in an interview after capturing his third World Sequence title.
“They went in pondering it was going to be an extensor launch, and once they went in, they realized I had torn that factor utterly off the bone,” Hernandez informed Ottavino in late Novemeber.
“So it turned out to be an extensor restore. I’ll be out for, like, a month or two subsequent 12 months.”
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Hernandez performed in all 17 of the Dodgers’ playoff video games, slashing .250/.290/.359 with one dwelling run and 7 RBI.
He affords loads of worth within the locker room as a veteran presence, making the season a bit lighter amid a 162-game stretch. So long as he can proceed to ship within the postseason, he ought to have a spot on the Dodgers’ roster.
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