Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Teoscar Hernández is out of the Dodgers’ lineup on Wednesday, and manager Dave Roberts revealed his reasoning.
Tuesday marked the first of nine games in a row for L.A., and the skipper wanted to give Hernández some rest.
“I’m just giving him a day. We’re in the middle of nine in a row. Just get ‘The Comet’ in there, give Teoscar a day, and he’ll be in there the next seven,” said Roberts.
‘The Comet’ is the nickname given to Hyeseong Kim for his speed, thriving for the Dodgers’ Triple-A affiliate, Oklahoma City Comets, to start the 2025 campaign, and what ‘Hyeseong’ means in Korean.
QUESTION: Teoscar’s not starting today. Anything going on there?
DAVE ROBERTS: I’m just giving him a day. We’re in the middle of 9 in a row. Just get ‘The Comet’ in there, give Teoscar a day, and he’ll be in there the next 7.
?: @DodgersBeat pic.twitter.com/2EkAFsZQL9
https://twitter.com/HyeseongKimMuse/status/1940566314726445430?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1940566314726445430%7Ctwgr%5E79bc284021097e7c7b2fdb4accfddacea9305296%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fdodgersnation.com%2Fdave-roberts-reveals-why-teoscar-hernandez-is-out-of-dodgers-lineup-vs-white-sox%2F2025%2F07%2F02%2F
Through Kim’s 38 appearances this season, he is hitting .369/.411/.524 with an OPS of .935. His OPS+ of 162 ranks him over 60 percent higher than the average qualified big leaguer.
Although the success has been exciting, Kim was a star long before donning a Dodgers uniform.
Across eight seasons in Korea Baseball Organization, Kim had a career slash line of .304/.364/.403 with an OPS of .766. He added 386 RBIs during this time, along with 211 stolen bases.
Defensively, Kim brought in four Golden Glove awards and is currently the only KBO player to win the honor at shortstop and second base.
All of this led to the 26-year-old inking a three-year, $12.5 million deal that included two additional option years that would make it a $22 million contract in total.
As for Hernández, he is still hitting .263 on the year, but has had a dreadful month of June, putting up an abysmal .189/.243/.347 slashline. Perhaps the added rest will help his production going into July.
