In a couple of encouraging steps for the Dodgers, Kiké Hernández and Hyeseong Kim began their rehab assignments at Triple-A Oklahoma City on Thursday night.
Hernández has been gone since July 6 and Kim since July 29. When Tommy Edman went down on Aug. 8, it left the Dodgers without three out of four of their utility players, and all of the ones who can play outfield.
And now it appears they could be working to insure themselves even further when this group is reaey to return. The Comets’ starting lineup on Thursday included an eyebrow-raiser for Dodgers fans: they started Kim in left field for the first time since he came to MLB.
We all know what the situation with Michael Conforto is. Fans want him off of the roster immediately, but the Dodgers aren’t quite on that same wavelength. Could Hernández and Kim’s impending returns finally take Conforto away in the roster crunch? Are they priming Kim for more of a starting role in left field?
That’s interesting. Hyeseong Kim is playing left field for the first time this season as he starts his rehab assignment with OKC. https://t.co/mFYSvpI3SS
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) August 22, 2025
If we had to guess, probably not.
The Dodgers seem all too content to ride with Conforto throughout the rest of the season. Buddy Kennedy and Justin Dean are far more likely to be pushed off of the 26-man roster when Hernández returns (they might even opt to send top prospect Alex Freeland back to Triple-A). Kim’s lefty bat should still replace Conforto’s in the lineup more often and he should be in left field more often, but the Dodgers don’t exactly have a great track record in that department either.
Hyeseong Kim’s rehab appearance in left field shouldn’t get Dodgers fans excited about a Michael Conforto DFA
There might be a world in which the Dodgers finally cut Conforto when/if Max Muncy and Tommy Edman return in September, but at that point it would be too little, too late. (They could also opt to use their two expanded roster spots on Muncy and Edman and never dump Conforto at all.)
The Dodgers’ attachment to Conforto is confounding, given that they finally brought themselves to cut two veteran players with extensive histories with the team this year while Conforto is a newcomer on a prove-it deal he’s not living up to. No one quite knows what has made Conforto so special to the front office.
One of the worst contracts of the offseason is one that the Dodgers seem adamant on seeing through. While there’s still reason to hope that Conforto’s playing time will be more limited when Kim and Hernández return — and maybe the faintest sign they’ll cut him loose when the rest of the injured position players make their way back — fans are losing hope that the Dodgers are ever going to be able to admit that they were wrong.
