LOS ANGELES -- The Dodgers placed super-utility man Enrique Hernandez on the injured list Wednesday and will do the same with left fielder Teoscar Hernandez the next time they play Friday.
Enrique Hernandez suffered what Dodgers manager Dave Roberts described as a "significant tear" in his oblique earlier this week, an injury that will keep him out for several weeks, if not months. Teoscar Hernandez pulled up lame while running to first base in Wednesday's second inning and was diagnosed with a left hamstring strain, though the initial expectation is that his injury is not as serious.
"He tested well," Roberts said after the Dodgers' 4-1 win over the Colorado Rockies. "But we're going to get a scan tomorrow. Obviously it's an IL. There's just no timeline. But something like that obviously is going to be a few weeks at the minimum."
Enrique Hernandez spent the season's first two months building back up after offseason elbow surgery and suffered the oblique injury while taking batting practice before his season debut Monday. He picked up two hits that night, received treatment Tuesday, homered, then hit a fourth-inning double under significant pain in his left side and was later replaced on defense.
Cameras caught Roberts consoling a visibly shaken Enrique Hernandez in the dugout shortly thereafter.
"I feel pretty defeated right now," Hernandez told reporters after the game.
The Dodgers recalled infield prospect Alex Freeland to fill the vacant roster spot, starting him at second base for the series finale. Freeland will probably get most of the playing time there until Tommy Edman makes his expected return from offseason ankle surgery at some point in June, though Hyeseong Kim will draw starts at second base, too.
The hope is that Enrique Hernandez will at least return for the stretch run of the regular season so he can be a factor in the playoffs, the time of year in which he usually shines. Teoscar Hernandez's stay should be shorter, though it's nonetheless painful for the Dodgers, given his 1.018 OPS over the past 18 games.
"It's pretty frustrating for us," Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages said in Spanish. "We have the opportunity to see them work hard every day and prepare so that those things don't happen. But [injuries are] going to happen all the time."
