Kiké Hernández was reinstated to the active roster after left elbow surgery, with the Los Angeles Dodgers activating him from the 60-day injured list before a Memorial Day home game against the Colorado Rockies. Santiago Espinal was designated for assignment to create room for Hernández on both the active roster and the 40-man roster. Espinal had previously stayed with the team when Mookie Betts returned from the 15-day injured list, while Alex Freeland was optioned to Triple-A. Recent performance concerns were noted for Hyeseong Kim, including passive approach and bad counts, though he continued to play strong defense. Espinal joined the Dodgers on a Minor League contract and had his deal adjusted to delay full guarantees.
"The Los Angeles Dodgers activated Kiké Hernández from the 60-day injured list and designated Santiago Espinal for assignment prior to hosting the Colorado Rockies on Memorial Day. There were multiple options available to the Dodgers as corresponding roster moves to reinstating Hernádez, but deciding on Espinal seemingly was the path of least resistance. Doing so not only made room for Hernádez on the active Dodgers roster, but cleared a spot on their 40-man roster as well."
"Espinal previously avoided the roster crunch when Mookie Betts returned from the 15-day IL. In that instance, Alex Freeland was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City, and Espinal and Hyeseong Kim remained with the Dodgers. Given some of his recent struggles, there was a thought that perhaps Kim would be next to get demoted to Oklahoma City. Though, that would still have required the Dodgers to make an additional move on their 40-man roster in order to bring Hernádez back."
""He's back to chasing, I think he's passive when he shouldn't be, and then he's getting into bad counts," manager Dave Roberts said of Kim on Sunday. "I don't know if it's a mechanical thing, but he's been kind of grinding, quite honestly, the last month. It's been kind of tough for him. But he's playing good defense, which is great. He's a great teammate, which he always is. He's preparing and competing, but right now it's just not working.""
"Espinal joined the Dodgers on a Minor League contract during the offseason and reportedly had his deal reworked to push back the date for it becoming fully guaranteed. Kiké Hernández returns Hernádez is back with the Dodgers for the first time since undergoing left elbow surgery during the offseason. He was eligible to return on Sunday, but the team instead opted to activate him for the start of their homestand."
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