ANAHEIM — Kiké Hernandez said Wednesday that he’s “about a week” ahead of schedule in his recovery from a strained left hamstring, and is now targeting a return in the final week of September.
“I’m doing everything except running,” he said.
Hernandez will try running for the first time when the Dodgers begin a three-game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday at Chase Field.
Hernandez said that he would like to return during the Dodgers’ series against the Diamondbacks at home (Sept 21-24) or against the Rockies in Colorado (25-27).
“At first we weren’t sure if I’d be back in time for the playoffs,” he said.
Hamstring injuries aren’t always straightforward. Howie Kendrick has seemingly been stuck on “99 percent” for a couple weeks now, unable to run the bases at full speed. He still hasn’t appeared in a rehab game.
Hernandez was the Dodgers’ starting center fielder at the time he went down. He is slashing .308/.350/.492 in 71 games this season, with six home runs and 21 runs batted in. He has played six different positions in the field and committed just three errors.