Kiké Hernández reveals injury details that make his Dodgers return seem miraculous

Kiké Hernández made his return to the Dodgers on Monday, after undergoing elbow surgery almost immediately following LA's 2025 World Series victory. He collected two hits, including an RBI double, in their 5-3 win over the Rockies.

The Dodgers have gotten back to their winning ways since an anomalous stretch of losing from late April into early May, but having their preeminent glue guy back had to feel good.

In his first media scrum since the official roster move, which jettisoned Santiago Espinal (as expected), Hernández detailed his injury, which he played through for the majority of the 2025 season, and surgery, performed by Dodgers team physician Dr. Neal ElAttrache.

According to Hernández, ElAttrache said of the elbow issue, "'This was the worst injury I've ever seen of this kind, and I don't know how you played.'"

Dodgers fans knew that Hernández was all but guaranteed to return to the Dodgers despite the surgery and a guaranteed late arrival to major league action, but he still leveraged it in convincing Andrew Friedman to re-sign him. "I was like, 'I did this for you,'" he said, "so you better bring me back.'"

Kiké Hernández's elbow surgery details after return will stun Dodgers fans

Hernández was able to pinpoint the exact day he started to feel discomfort that morphed into pain. He initially injured his elbow on a slide into home on May 28, 2025, and then an attempted diving catch during Game 3 of the NLCS exacerbated the issue again. Getting into his batting stance made his elbow feel like it was being "blow torched."

It was obvious that Hernández wasn't quite feeling like his usual self during the postseason. Where he'd normally turn into a monster, he hit just .250 with a .649 OPS, some of his worst numbers in a postseason where he's played 10 or more games. So offseason surgery wasn't surprising, but no one quite understood the extent of his injury.

Dave Roberts said as much. "I don't think anyone appreciated how severe the injury was. He was not going to come out of the lineup and gave himself every opportunity to play with the pain that he was going through. That's kind of what makes him special."

The Dodgers took their time getting Hernández back into the major league fold, but he's clearly already feeling like himself again. The team and fans alike can't be more excited that he's back.

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