Kiké Hernández’s fast-track rehab brings him back to the Dodgers sooner than expected

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Kiké Hernández returned to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday, two months after being sidelined with a severe oblique injury that occurred two days into his season debut.

The utility man who turns 35 in late August missed the first two months of the season recovering from left elbow surgery. He was back for two games — going 4 for 4 with two doubles and a home run — before getting injured again in late May during batting practice.

“I feel like everything is in a pretty good spot right now,” Hernández said. “Trying to keep my 1.000 batting average going and be the best hitter in the league.”

Hernández had been projected to be out three months with the left oblique tear. He accelerated the recovery process with a stem cell injection and rehab that included sitting in a hyperbaric chamber daily.

“When you hear that it’s a grade 3 full tear, you kind of get scared and you think the worst,” he said.

Driving home after an MRI revealed the magnitude of the injury, a kind he had never had in his career, Hernández said he experienced his first panic attack.

“Sitting in traffic, I had to call my wife, and I could barely talk,” he recalled. “I was like, ‘Look, this is what happened. I don’t know what’s going on with my body. Maybe I’m too old.’ But just hearing her calm me down, I took a couple deep breaths and I was good to go.”

Hernández said it hurt to sneeze or cough and, typical of the free spirit’s candor, he added, “I didn’t poop for like six days after I got hurt.”

He played in five games at Triple-A Oklahoma City, going 6 for 18 with a homer in a rehab stint.

With Seattle starting three right-handers in the series, Hernández was expected to come off the bench. Manager Dave Roberts expects him to play mostly third base and left field, although he could spell Andy Pages in center.

“Excited to get Kiké back,” Roberts said. “When he came back a month ago or whenever it was, came out swinging the bat well.”

In his career, Hernández is best known for his October offensive numbers that are better the regular season. He’s won three World Series rings with the Dodgers, who are going for baseball’s first three-peat since the New York Yankees won three consecutive championships from 1998-2000.

He vows he won’t play scared after the injury.

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“I only know one speed, and that’s all out,” he said. “I felt a little stiff by pretending to think about the injury. So the way that I am, I just play, and if it goes, it goes. But I can’t change the way that I play because I don’t know how to play any other way.

The Dodgers are set to welcome back closer Edwin Díaz on Wednesday after three months on the IL recovering from surgery for loose bodies in his pitching elbow.

“Getting him back in the mix is going to be fun for all of us,” Roberts said. “So excited about seeing a team we haven’t seen for quite some time.”

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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb