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Kik茅 Hern谩ndez had no idea it was going to happen.

Why would he?

Despite having played 113 Pacific Coast League games in parts of four seasons, Tuesday night was the first time the three-time World Series Champion with the Los Angeles Dodgers had ever stepped to the plate inside Isotopes Park.

So when the announced Rio Grande Credit Union Field crowd of 7,976 let out a thunderous roar as esteemed sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Isotopes Public Address Announcer Francina Walker introduced the 34-year-old Dodger 鈥� batting second for the Oklahoma City Comets 鈥� he was caught off guard.

"A little bit shocked. Slightly embarrassed, but good," Hern谩ndez admitted Wednesday when asked about what Isotopes play-by-play announcer Josh Suchon suggested might be the loudest ovation he's ever heard for an opposing player.

Hernandez, who is just a week into the playing part of his rehabilitation from a November tendon surgery in his left elbow, had no idea he was in friendly territory.

The Isotopes may be in first place (they beat Hernandez and the Comets on Tuesday and Wednesday at Isotopes Park), but many families in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 still bleed Dodger Blue after generations of watching the sa国际传媒官网网页入口 Dukes be the Dodgers' Triple-A affiliate.

"No," Hernandez said when asked if he knew there would be so many Dodgers fans at the game Tuesday night.

"First time here. I had no clue. I didn't even know what to expect. All I knew about sa国际传媒官网网页入口 was that it was a really high elevation."

High elevation, and still very high regard for any Dodger who has helped win three World Series titles.

Hern谩ndez is one of two Dodgers World Series champions on rehab assignments with the visiting OKC Comets this week in sa国际传媒官网网页入口, along with reliever Brusdar Graterol (an oblique injury has kept him off the big league roster since 2024).

The fans may have been nice to both so far this week, but the Isotopes haven't been so welcoming. sa国际传媒官网网页入口 beat the Comets 2-1 in 10 innings on Tuesday and 8-2 on Wednesday, improving to 25-16 on the season and taking a 3.0 game lead over second place Sacramento in the PCL standings, the first time the Isotopes have held a three-game lead in the standings at any point of a season since 2012.

Graterol walked one and struck out two 'Topes in a scoreless inning of work Tuesday. Hern谩ndez, meanwhile, is 0-for-6 in sa国际传媒官网网页入口 鈥� 0-3 in each game.

About that rehab...

Hern谩ndez, who was a key piece of the Dodgers鈥� World Series rosters in 2020, 2024 and 2025, has more experience with injuries and surgeries than he likes to admit. But what's different this go 'round is that, despite three previous surgeries (his current rehab is after surgery No. 4), this is the first one to prevent him from taking part in spring training.

His going 0-6 this week, and now hitting just .133 in five games with the Comets, isn't actually the biggest concern so far. It's a start.

"I mean, it's basically still like the first week of spring training for me, so as far as my elbow and my health, I feel good," Hern谩ndez said. "Still trying to get ready, getting my rhythm and have my body feel good enough to play a full game, trying to get timing and all that at the plate."

While he's understanding of this being still very early in the process, he's not going to lie and say it hasn't been a struggle being away from the action as long as he has.

"I knew it was going to be a long rehab. And even though I'm ahead of schedule, it still feels like it's forever, because it's the first time in my entire career that I missed spring training and I missed Opening Day," said Hern谩ndez. "... Last year was miserable, you know? Not only performance wise, but I was just in a lot of pain every time I took the field. So I'm just happy that I'm pain free right now."

Bad Bunny?

OK, so this isn't exactly something that is still in the news cycle, but Hern谩ndez is a huge star in his home country of Puerto Rico, which led to local radio personality "DJ Animal" (Anthony Garcia) of Kiss 97.3 FM asking him what it was like watching the Bad Bunny performance at the Super Bowl.

Hern谩ndez, who was at the Super Bowl, was more than happy to share his experience.

"It was sick," Hern谩ndez said. "... It was definitely a show for TV, because at times, you couldn't even see where he was and things like that. The audience was very white, so they weren't really enjoying it as much. The first song, I was kind of bummed that nobody was singing, nobody was enjoying it. And after that, I said, you know, screw everybody else. I'm going to enjoy this myself. And I went back to be myself and just singing every song and dancing, and I had a great time.

"And it was a very proud moment for us ... not only showing the history of the culture in Puerto Rico, but also including all Latin America in it as well. There's some tough times going on in this in this country at the moment, especially for the for the Latino community, and for Bad Bunny to do that, it's, you know, it's hard to top."

Reach Geoff Grammer at ggrammer@abqjournal.com or follow him on Twitter (X) .