PITTSBURGH — Hyeseong Kim rejoined the Dodgers in Pittsburgh on Tuesday. It wasn’t easy.
“It was very difficult. You’re 100 percent right,” Kim said through his interpreter – who was also stranded at an airport for 14-15 hours on the way to Pittsburgh.
“I’ve never spent so much time at an airport as I did yesterday.”
A combination of missed connections and delayed flights left Kim and his interpreter, Dean Kim, to sleep on the floor in the airport on their way from Oklahoma City. They played League of Legends – Teamfight Tactics on their phones. Hyeseong is very strict with his diet but still found ways to get his daily protein requirements, even eating all three meals at the airport.
Kim returns to the Dodgers “100 percent healthy,” he said, and with his swing in a better place than it was before his late July trip to the injured list. Kim injured his left shoulder on a slide at second base and tried to play through it for a couple of weeks before going on the IL. He went 4 for 28 in his last 11 games before going on the IL and receiving a cortisone injection in his shoulder.
“I didn’t necessarily think my swing was that different. But through our R&D team and their analysis it was pretty clear my swing was different from early in the season,” Kim said.
“Initially, obviously sliding into second base was the cause of the injury but as it got worse the pain kept getting worse and it started affecting my swing.”
His rehab assignment with OKC allowed him to get back to the swing he remade in spring training. He went 11 for 34 in eight rehab games.
“Through the rehab games, I was able to go back to what I was working on during spring training and earlier in the season,” he said. “I kept practicing the same routine during the rehab process, just working on the same things over and over again trying to perfect my swing. I’ve felt a lot better recently.”
He returns to a Dodgers team that is collecting options at all of the positions he plays. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts hopes the competition for playing time among outfielders and middle infielders will produce better results.
“I do think just kind of naturally it raises the level of performance and intensity,” Roberts said. “You can see it with Miguel (Rojas). He’s fighting for playing time, quite frankly. He sees other guys that are vying for the same opportunities and you see his level of play and it’s given him more chances. I tip my cap to him. I’m expecting that from a lot of other guys as well.”
One of those players, Tommy Edman, began a minor-league rehabilitation assignment with OKC on Tuesday night, going 0 for 3 with a walk. Edman has been out since Aug. 3 with a recurring ankle injury. He was the DH on Tuesday and will alternate between that and center field this week, likely rejoining the Dodgers next week.
TEO RETURN
Teoscar Hernandez was back in the lineup Tuesday after being benched Sunday (and getting the day off Monday with the team). He went 2 for 4 with an RBI at the plate. But in the first inning, a fly ball dropped near the foul line for a double. Hernandez made a sliding attempt but came up empty on a ball that Statcast estimated would fall in only once in every 10 times.
“Teo is a guy that we counted on a lot last year in the biggest of moments,” Roberts said. “He’s a guy that I really admire, because he can balance the fun part of baseball but also have that edge. And I think we’ve lost a little bit of that edge over the last couple months. So I think, for me, I want to see that edge, that fight, that fire, and I’ll bet on any result. And so that’s for me, it’s like, I just want to see that. We’re past the mechanics part of it, and let’s just get into the fight. And I’ve seen it, and I believe that’s what’s to come in the next month and beyond.”
Roberts said he has seen some defensive improvement from Hernandez recently – since it came under heavy criticism following a game in Colorado and speculation about a position switch.
Roberts was coy when asked if he has talked with Hernandez about getting that “edge” back.
“Maybe,” he said. “We’ve had numerous conversations. So we’re in a good spot. We’re aligned. He knows his value for our ballclub. He knows my expectations of him individually. So we’re in lockstep.”
ROKI RETURN
Right-hander Roki Sasaki made his fourth rehab start for OKC on Tuesday night. He gave up a pair of two-run home runs in the first inning. But he allowed just one more hit and no more runs while getting through five innings and throwing 69 pitches.
In his four starts with OKC, Sasaki has given up 12 runs in 14 innings on 18 hits and eight walks while striking out eight. It could be the last start on his rehab assignment but there is no clear spot for Sasaki on the major-league staff at this point.
“Guys here are pitching well. I’m not sure what that means for Roki after this one,” Roberts said. “Let’s just get through this one. Pitch well, (be) healthy and then we’ll make a decision.”
ALSO
Third baseman Max Muncy has recovered from a chest cold well enough to also join OKC on a rehab assignment this week. Muncy and Edman could rejoin the Dodgers during their brief homestand next week.
UP NEXT
Dodgers (RHP Shohei Ohtani, 1-1, 4.18 ERA) at Pirates (RHP Braxton Ashcraft, 4-2, 2.58 ERA), Wednesday, 3:40 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA, 570 AM