Jason Heyward still feeling back soreness, will need rehab assignment before return

LOS ANGELES — Dodgers outfielder Jason Heyward is expected to miss more time on the injured list with lower back tightness, after missing the last two weeks while sidelined.

After hitting and running on the field last Friday at Dodger Stadium, soreness remains for Heyward, who last played for the Dodgers on March 30.

“Jason is going to get back to doing some baseball activity, but you know it’s just not — he’s trending in the right way, as far as feeling better,” manager Dave Roberts said Monday. “But residual soreness has sort of been looming.”

Roberts also said that, given the time Heyward’s already missed, he will have to go on a minor league rehab assignment before being activated. Heyward hasn’t played in the minors since 2017 with the Cubs, and in his last six injured list stints in Chicago never went on a rehab assignment.

“I still believe it’s going to be a shorter term from here,” Roberts said. “But I don’t know what the timeline is.”

Entering Monday, with Heyward out the Dodgers have spread the starts in left field — with Teoscar Hernández shifting from left field to right — between Chris Taylor (seven starts, 27 plate appearances), Kiké Hernández (four starts, 16 PA), and the left-handed-batting Taylor Trammell (one start, three PA). That trio in those starts have a combined four hits in 43 at-bats — all four singles by Hernández — with two runs scored and two RBI.

It’s part of a larger problem for the Dodgers, who through the first 18 games of the season have gotten very little production out of the bottom three spots in the batting order.

On Monday night, Taylor starts in left field with Nationals left-hander Parker Mitchell starting and making his major league debut. Kiké Hernández also starts Monday, in center field.