Enrique

Hernandez

Hernández was a complete void offensively for four-plus months this year, but since Aug. 9, he’s come in at .288 with six homers and 19 RBI in 109 plate appearances. He’ll probably start against every lefty the Dodgers face next month and perhaps some of the righties, particularly if Miguel Rojas remains limited.

Muncy picked up the side injury while making a diving attempt on a ground ball Saturday. The 34-year-old will take a break with Enrique Hernandez getting the start at third base in his place. Consider Muncy day-to-day for now.

No reason has been given as to why Rojas has been removed from the lineup just yet. Tommy Edman is now the starting shortstop, and Enrique Hernandez is lining up at second base.

Hernández hit for Gavin Lux in the seventh and fanned then. He did so twice more in a ninth inning in which the Dodgers totaled seven runs. Hernández is batting .215/.270/.345 in 360 plate appearances for the season. If the Dodgers had it to do over again, we wonder if they’d still make the same choice they did last month and keep him over Jason Heyward.

Muncy will once again sit against a southpaw, as Eduardo Rodriguez takes the ball for the Diamondbacks on Monday. With Muncy out, the Dodgers will have Enrique Hernandez handle the hot corner. It does appear that Muncy isn’t going to play at all against left-handed pitching, which obviously hurts the counting stats, but should help the rates.

The versatile 33-year-old broke a scoreless tie with his 395-foot solo shot off of Jacob Lopez leading off the fifth inning. That would be his only hit in four at-bats on the night. Hernández has had a rough season overall at the dish, slashing a dreadful .215/.276/.350 with nine homers and 33 RBI.

The Dodgers had only two scoring plays, and while the one everyone will remember is the walkoff grand slam by Shohei Ohtani to put him in the 40/40 club, Hernández was able to tie the game with a three-run shot in the fifth off Tyler Alexander. He’s now at eight homers, 32 RBI and a .618 OPS.

X-rays returned negative on Freeman’s middle finger after he left Saturday’s game, but it’s not a surprise to see the infielder sit for the finale against St. Louis even still. He’ll get a rest with Enrique Hernandez getting the start at first base and hitting seventh. Freeman should be considered day-to-day.

Hernández found out he had astigmatism at the beginning of the summer and started wearing new glasses to help him see better. It’s a subtle change, but the Dodgers believe it’s a big one. The veteran had hit .191 with 45 strikeouts and just 15 RBIs in the first half of the season but is hitting .278 with 18 strikeouts and 11 RBIs in the 20 games since he started wearing the glasses. There’s no telling what kind of role Hernández will have once Max Muncy and Tommy Edman are activated off the IL, but it’s possible his improved results at the dish are not a fluke.

Hernández also had three hits and two RBI yesterday. The two nice days have lifted his season OPS to .612, which is his highest mark after any game this season. The only other time he was over .600 was May 20. He then went 1-for-17 over the subsequent week.