Dodgers Designate Elieser Hernandez For Assignment

The Dodgers announced they’ve designated right-hander Elieser Hernández for assignment. They needed to clear an active roster spot for closer Evan Phillips, who is back from the 15-day injured list. The move drops the team’s 40-man roster count to 39.

Hernández made five appearances for Los Angeles, his first MLB work since 2022. The righty inked a minor league deal over the offseason and was selected onto the club two weeks ago. He made a spot start in his first appearance, working six innings of three-run ball against the Giants. The Dodgers kept him around as a low-leverage reliever. Hernández allowed runs in three of his four bullpen outings, coughing up three runs without recording an out against the Mets on Wednesday.

The 29-year-old has appeared in parts of six MLB campaigns. He worked in a swing role for the Marlins between 2018-22. Hernández typically posted good strikeout and walk numbers, but he has been very vulnerable to the longball. That was again a problem in his limited look with the Dodgers. He gave up five homers in only 9 2/3 innings, serving up nine runs in the process.

Hernández is out of options, so the Dodgers had to designate him for assignment to remove him from the MLB team. It’s likely he’ll land on waivers in the next few days. While Hernández didn’t pitch well in the majors, he worked to an impressive 2.83 ERA while striking out nearly 30% of batters faced over 28 2/3 innings for Triple-A Oklahoma City. That might get him a look from another organization. If he goes unclaimed on waivers, Hernández has the requisite service time to decline an outright assignment in favor of free agency.

Phillips was sidelined for a little less than a month by a hamstring strain. He was out to another excellent start before the injury. Phillips turned in 13 2/3 innings of three-run ball, fanning 17 hitters while issuing four walks. He now has a 1.64 ERA over 148 1/3 innings since the Dodgers claimed him off waivers from Tampa Bay in August 2021. The Dodgers used a committee approach to the ninth while Phillips was out of action. Daniel Hudson, Alex Vesia, J.P. Feyereisen and Blake Treinen have each picked up at least one save this month.