Teoscar Hernandez Is Crushing Triple-A Pitching. The Dodgers Are Bringing Him Back Monday.

The Los Angeles Dodgers have the best record in baseball, an eight-game lead in the NL West, and they’ve done it without one of their most dependable run producers for nearly a month. That changes Monday.

Dave Roberts told reporters that Teoscar Hernandez will be activated off the injured list for the series opener against the Athletics, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic. The Dominican outfielder has been out since late May with a left hamstring strain, but his rehab assignment with Triple-A Oklahoma City looked more like a punishment for Pacific Coast League pitchers.

Three games. Three home runs. Hernandez is seeing the ball well enough that the Dodgers decided they didn’t need to see anything else.

It’s not hard to imagine why. Before the injury, Hernandez was slashing .257/.339/.446 with 12 homers and 42 RBIs. He was exactly what the Dodgers thought they were getting when they signed him to a one-year, $23.5 million deal last winter — a right-handed power bat who can handle lefties and play both corner outfield spots. Losing him for 20-plus games could have hurt a team with less depth. But the Dodgers have Mookie Betts, Freddie Freeman, and Shohei Ohtani doing ridiculous things every night, so they just kind of kept winning anyway.

What Hernandez Brings Back

His return gives Roberts a cleaner lineup against left-handed starters. Hernandez has a career .852 OPS against southpaws, and his presence means Gavin Lux or Jason Heyward doesn’t have to be the primary answer in those spots. It also adds some length to a lineup that sometimes goes quiet when the big three don’t carry the load.

The Dodgers have been careful with their injured players all year. They didn’t push Hernandez back early. They let him get those at-bats in Oklahoma City, watched him swing freely, and waited until he felt right. Now they get him back for a six-game homestand that starts with Oakland and moves on to the White Sox. Two teams that are not good. A pretty soft landing for a guy trying to shake off rust.

One wrinkle to watch: roster crunch. The Dodgers will need to make room for Hernandez. They’ve been carrying a bunch of outfielders, and someone is likely headed back to Triple-A or the waiver wire. That’s a problem for the front office to sort out. For now, the Dodgers just get their slugger back.