LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Dodgers recalled infielder/outfielder Ryan Ward, signed infielder/outfielder Santiago Espinal, optioned infielder/outfielder Hyeseong Kim and placed outfielder Teoscar Hernández on the injured list a left hamstring strain. In order to make room on the 40-man roster, the Dodgers transferred left-handed pitcher Blake Snell to the 60-day injured list.
Ward, 28, rejoins the club for the second time this season after going 2-for-6 with one RBI in his first trip to Los Angeles. The 2025 Pacific Coast League MVP was hitting .254 with six homers and 31 RBI in 47 games with Triple-A Oklahoma City. Last season for the Comets, he slashed .290/.380/.557 with 36 homers and 122 RBI while leading Minor League Baseball in home runs, RBI, extra-base hits (73) and total bases (315). He was drafted by the Dodgers in the eighth round out of Bryant University (Rhode Island) in 2019 and has slashed .266/.344/.505 in seven minor league seasons, with 156 home runs, 142 doubles, and 537 RBI in 725 games.
Espinal, 31, returns after being designated for assignment on May 25 and outrighted on May 28. He is batting .220 with three doubles, one homer and four RBI in 26 games for the Dodgers. He played 114 games with the Reds last season, batting .243 with 16 RBI while playing six different positions on the field. He was an All-Star in 2022 for the Toronto Blue Jays, playing in a career-best 135 games and hitting .267 with seven homers and 51 RBI. In seven Major League seasons in Toronto (2020-23), Cincinnati (2024-25) and Los Angeles (2026), he has played in 604 games with a .260 batting average and 21 homers while playing seven different positions. He was originally drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the 10th round of the 2016 First Year Player Draft out of Miami Dade Community College.
Kim, 27, played 43 games for the Dodgers, slashing .259/.323/.328 with three doubles, one homer and 11 RBI. Last year, he played 71 games for the Dodgers, hitting .280 with three homers and 17 RBI. He is is in his second season with the Dodgers after spending eight seasons in the Korean Baseball League. He played in 953 KBO games, recording 1,043 hits, including 37 homers.
Hernández, 33, left Wednesday’s game in the bottom of the second ending with the hamstring injury. He has played 51 games this season, batting .276 with seven home runs and 31 RBI. He is in his third season with the Los Angeles Dodgers, and he has hit 65 home runs with 219 RBI in 339 games. He is in his 11th season, with stops with the Houston Astros (2017), Toronto Blue Jays (2017-22), Seattle Mariners (2023) and Dodgers (2024-), and he has slashed .261/.317/.482 with 224 home runs and 692 RBI. He was signed on February 17, 2011 as an international free agent by the Houston Astros out of Cotui, Dominican Republic.
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