While the Los Angeles Dodgers come out of the All-Star break with the second-best record in the National League and awaiting the returns of several injured players, the outlook for Max Muncy remains unclear.
The Dodgers placed Muncy on the 10-day injured list May 17 due to a right oblique strain. Manager Dave Roberts suggested Muncy’s oblique injury was relatively mild and the team was hopeful — if not optimistic — he would return once eligible to come off the IL.
However, the 33-year-old has experienced multiple setbacks during his recovery and in particular has had trouble once beginning to take swings.
During an appearance on “Foul Territory,” Muncy noted there’s been recent progress but he and the Dodgers are remaining cautious:
“Not sure yet. We’ve been having some really good days lately, but we’re still trying to make sure we’re taking our time and not putting ourselves in a bad position that we’re going to regret later on.”
Although the Dodgers at times tend to err on the side of caution with player injuries, such as Tyler Glasnow going on the 15-day IL with lower back tightness, Muncy explained his situation has been more problematic and without clear answers:
“It’s definitely not like that case. It’s more of we’ve been trying to get back. I’ve tried several times to start ramping things up. For me, it’s more my body just hasn’t cooperated and bounced back to a lot of the treatments we’ve been trying to do. We can’t necessarily figure out why that is.
“I’ve gone in and done testing multiple times, done a whole bunch of scans and images. We’ve just really struggled to put our finger on what’s been going on. That’s why it’s taken longer than what we thought.”
Oblique injuries historically can be a long-term issue, but Muncy did miss just the minimum 10 days with a strain during the 2021 season. One adjustment Muncy did make, however, was limiting the number of swings he would take during batting practice in effort to avoid aggravating the right oblique strain upon returning.
Muncy has now missed more than two months with his latest oblique injury and given that there is still a need for significant progress and a rehab assignment, he doesn’t figure to return until some time in August at the earliest.
Max Muncy injury: Dodgers trade for third baseman?
During the time Muncy has been on the injured list, the Dodgers have relied on a revolving door of Kiké Hernández and Cavan Biggio at third base, and to a lesser extent Chris Taylor and Miguel Rojas.
The quartet has combined to hit .186/.281/.318 with a 75 wRC+ and fifth-highest 25.7% strikeout rate as Dodgers third basemen in the 51 games Muncy has missed due to injury.
Given those ongoing struggles and lack of clarity with Muncy, there’s some belief the Dodgers need to trade for a third baseman. But that could prove challenging dependent on how the market shakes out leading up to the MLB trade deadline at 2 p.m. PT on Tuesday, July 30.
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