The Dodgers made it official on Tuesday, placing Jerry Hairston on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left groin. Elian Herrera was recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque before the second game of a three-game series against the Diamondbacks at Dodger Stadium.
I would call the Herrera promotion a surprise, as he is the weakest hitter of the four options from Triple-A Albuquerque, but he is also the only one of the four both healthy and on the 40-man roster.
"He's and outfielder, pretty much. We feel like those are his best positions, the corners," manager Don Mattingly said of Herrera. "He's played the corners. He's a right-handed bat."
Herrera hit just .250/.310/.336 in 27 games in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, but he plays multiple positions in the infield and the outfield. He started games at five different positions in 2012 for the Dodgers. He joins a bench full of utility men, though one without much power.
"(It's) a little bit (concerning). We're talking about some different ways," Mattingly said. "We're just talking about different scenarios that could help us offensively. We're not happy with the runs we're scoring so we have to try to figure out how to take the guys we have and maximize them in a different way."
Mattingly hinted that another move could happen in the coming days to address that power outage, and it could come mean the return of Scott Van Slyke, who is not on the 40-man roster but is tearing up Triple-A. Van Slyke has played exclusively first base for the Isotopes in 2013, but will play in the outfield over the next few days.
"He's played both (outfield and first base) in the past. The problem with Scottie is that he hasn't played any outfield to this point (this year)," Mattingly said. "He's played the outfield his whole life. We're just getting him back out there for a few days."
Van Slyke is starting in right field for Albuquerque on Tuesday night.
In the meantime, look for Herrera to start for either Andre Ethier or Carl Crawford against the left-handed Patrick Corbin on Wednesday against the Diamondbacks or against Wade LeBlanc and the Marlins on Sunday.
Hairston to the disabled list is retroactive to Monday, meaning the earliest he could return to the Dodgers is May 21. Mattingly said Hairston is expected to miss close to the minimum 15 days.
"He felt like he could play yesterday, until he tried to run," Mattingly said.
One person not under consideration yet for a call-up is Yasiel Puig, hitting .306/.367/.597 for Double-A Chattanooga.
"Puig is a whole different story," Mattingly said.
Game info
Time: 7:10 p.m.
TV: Prime Ticket