The Dodgers transferred third baseman Max Muncy to the 60-day injured list this evening. The move opened a spot on the 40-man roster for righty Kyle Hurt, who was reinstated from his own stint on the 60-day IL and optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City.
Muncy has been out since May 17 with an oblique strain. While the team initially expressed hope that he’d back in relatively short order, that’s not how things played out. Muncy is now officially out of action through the All-Star Break. He’ll be eligible for reinstatement when the season’s second half gets underway. Muncy has been taking ground-balls but has yet to resume swinging a bat.
Enrique Hernández has gotten the majority of the third base work in Muncy’s absence. He’s hitting .191/.276/.324 in 76 plate appearances over that stretch. The Dodgers have given a few third base reps to Cavan Biggio, Miguel Rojas and Chris Taylor as well. Neither Biggio nor Taylor has hit well this season. Rojas is having a nice year but had to move to shortstop after the Mookie Betts injury.
Muncy was out to his typically solid start before the injury. He’d driven nine home runs with a .223/.323/.475 slash in 167 trips to the plate. The Dodgers’ fill-in options at third base are a clear downgrade, though there’s no indication they’re especially alarmed. L.A. has built a wide enough lead in the NL West to withstand injuries to Betts, Muncy and Yoshinobu Yamamoto, among others. GM Brandon Gomes said earlier in the week that the team wasn’t changing its deadline approach to compensate for losing Yamamoto and Betts. The same is presumably true of Muncy, assuming the Dodgers expect him back sometime in July.
Well that one hurts… I’ll show myself out
You saying you strained your hand ligaments opening your bud light can while dodging the knights
99% chance Dodgers get in the playoffs so it doesn’t matter
As long as the team is full strength going into the first day of the playoffs they’re going to win the World Series
This is all just drama like trying to predict the political election returns when all we have to do is wait until election day
Just wait until the playoff starts and all this will be forgotten
Huh?
It’s awesome when fans have confidence in their team.
jimmy, didn’t you just predict the playoffs?
99% chance the Dodgers do not win the World Series.
I’ll put $100 on those odds. Keep in mind how much you’ll owe me if you lose.
Are you offering to betting 100 dollars on the 99% chance that they will win or the more realistic 99chance they will lose? How confident are you in your Dodgers?
I suggest you steer clear of Vegas, bud. You just offered me 99-1 odds against the Dodgers winning the Series, when the current mathematical odds are more like 5-1. So yeah, if I was a betting man I’d take that book in a heartbeat.
I didn’t offer you anything. You offered a wager with me with your outlandish overvalue of how good the Dodgers are. The only current betting odds in Vegas ar from people like you losing there money because of high priced off-season signings. Vegas sets there odds by the amount of bets they get and not necessarily who will win. The Dodgers will never win without a shortstop that can actually field the position. It will be their Achilles heel. Along with how bad they are besides five players.
Ha-ha.
Seriously, is this post a joke? I really want to believe it’s a joke.
Well it’s legal to bet in NC and not in California. I would bet 100 dollars on the field winning the World Series against the Dodgers at the odds you gave. Would You?
Slipping and sliding noted.
BTW, the odds I mentioned came from Baseball Prospectus PECOTA, which based on their math currently calculates the probability of the Dodgers winning the series at 18%. No team has a higher probability. But as I suggested, you should stay away from Vegas. If you don’t have at least some basic understanding of probabilities you’ll come home broke.
Chris Taylor looks to be washed up. He’s terrible.
would have agreed last week but he’s started making solid contact again. still an above average fielder and think he should get more of third if he continues to hit.
“Making solid contact again”..Chris Taylor is possibly the worst hitter in MLB. A few days of “making solid contact” again doesn’t override years and years of being one of the worst hitters in the big leagues. As far as fielding he’s able to be league average at several different spots, hardly an “above average” fielder in my estimation. If he didn’t have a guaranteed contract, Chris Taylor is a solid DFA or non-tender candidate in the off-season.
A few weeks now actually. Taylor has always been an extremely streaky hitter. So the Dodgers probably will play that hot hand for as long as it lasts, no matter what the armchair GMs think. And his OPS+ last year was 101 and his worst year before the last one was 2023, when it was 89. Probably you could find dozens of worse hitters in MLB with no effort at all.
“Probably you could find dozens of worse hitters”…Talk about a low bar my friend. Everyone looks better when compared to the bottom 5% of the league. That being said, it’s very doubtful, in my opinion, that you could find “dozens” of worse hitters than Chris Taylor in the big Leagues.
IOW, change the subject.
No max no betts that’s going to hurt an infield
The dodgers could make a move if they want to contend badly this year they have the prospects
Could be similar to 2021 in a way
The Sox have Paul DeJong available…..
And he’s an upgrade to who?
BlueSkies_LA he’s an upgrade to Cavan Biggio, Chris Taylor, and Hernandez… Not even close
Too bad he’s played exactly zero games at 3B, the position where the Dodgers have the actual need. So you’re right, not even close.
Oh no, he’s never played 3b before… How’s he ever going to learn… I know I was right. I didn’t need you to co-sign, but thanks.
Let me guess, if it happened you would say it’s dumb to trade for a position player in midseason and move him to a position he has never played in his career.
I’m a Guardians fan… We don’t have the luxurious payroll the dodgers do. That happens to us all the time.
Dodgers will bring in a SS , an outfielder and a high leverage bullpen piece…bank it! When Mookie comes back he’ll be moved back to second base! Dejong is head and shoulders above Kike, Taylor and Lux. Dodgers will be in on Bichette or Dejong and Rojas will remain a utility guy! Betts will flourish being back at 2nd and he’ll be fresh come postseason! Some or all of Biggio, Taylor , Kike and Lux will be shown the door, either trade or DFAed!
Which totally solves the 3B problem.
Mookie will be back in 6-8 weeks, Rojas is a VERY capable third baseman and Vargas has played third as well, Muncy will be back after the Allstar break, Dodgers will get through it!
Rojas is a very capable infielder period and he has played some 3B this year, but his defensive skills are kind of wasted there. If Vargas was the solution he’d already be playing it. Instead they went out to get Biggio. The open question is whether Mookie goes back to SS when he’s healed. I feel the best solution for the next two months is a 3B upgrade, keeping Rojas as the regular SS and putting Muncy or Betts back on 2B when they are well again. Eventually Betts moves back to SS and Lux gets a ticket to OKC, or maybe traded.
Rojas is 35 and considered a utility guy, plus he has leg issues, he’s NOT an everyday player anymore, it is what it is, Vargas and Rojas can take turns at 3rd base until Muncy gets back, he’ll back after the break, trading for a SS and moving Betts back to second is the best thing Dodgers can do for Mookie AND the team!
Biggio not Vargas is playing 3B, and in fact Vargas has made exactly one appearance at that position in the majors — two years ago. Nobody knows when Muncy will be back, only that it isn’t anytime soon. Trading for a SS sounds like a nice idea until you realize that nobody of much upgrade value is actually available. Rojas is doing pretty well every day for someone who isn’t an everyday player.
Dude, there’s a REASON Rojas isn’t the everyday shortstop, if management thought that was ideal he’d already be the EVERYDAY shortstop, and Mookie would be back at second, let that sink in a moment!
Muncy is a terrible fielder
You’re right, he is not nearly fat enough to be a convincing Prince Fielder
Turn your head and cough. Bregman?
Dodgers are hurting and the dbacks are hurting much more. They lost their 1 2 3 starters. All star short stop, gold glove cf, closer, now moreno just got hurt today with gurriel. They lost their number 1 prospect in lawlar. Yet they are .500, different is we can’t keep buying like the dodgers do. deadline dodgers will get eflin or crochet, and more hitters.
I would think an expert like you would know trading at the deadline doesn’t involve buying players.
An expert like you would realize that trading players at the deadline still requires budgeting for most teams so “buying” players still fit.
Also when you buy players in the offseason, that frees up your ability to trade prospects.
Thank you for being an educated fan.
it involves contracts doesn’t it? Most teams when they struggle can’t keep paying more and more. But dodgers are desperate bums losing again.
If you can’t buy being a World Series’ victor, why does it bother you if they try?
I’ll explain why. It messes it up for fans of other teams. That’s why small market teams fans don’t show up alot. That’s why dodgers are always on TV. its literally upper class vs middle class and lower class. Some people see it as good and some see it as bad. I see it as bad. It’s not the chip. It’s just the other things around it.
Fans of small market teams see it as bad, MLB sees it as great!
MLB says they want a competitive league but in reality they want baseball as competitive as college football.
There is a reason MLB as a whole is seeing record profits and it’s not from ticket sales, it’s streaming rights and the reason streaming is so valuable right now is because the biggest markets are winning and have the biggest stars.
Baseball is not a star driven league the way football is or basketball, meaning fans don’t follow stars, they follow teams and it’s a huge asset for MLB to have their biggest drawing teams doing well with star studded rosters.
Baseball is a game but it’s still a business.
well your proving my point. half like it half don’t. only a few power house teams. MLB don’t care about anything but money of course. Which is why Ohtani thing went away so fast! if you believe he didn’t know then I have a bridge for you. Teams like dodgers are only good for some things. I believe in old school baseball. grow and develop, trade and buy some free agents then spend big when you think it’s time. Not keep spending more and more.
Taker, Nothing you’ve said here is grounded in reality except that all MLB (owners) care about is money
If it wasn’t for the Dodgers, Yankees, Braves, Cubs etc, there wouldn’t be baseball and the small market woe is me, baseball isn’t fair, fans wouldn’t have teams.
Like it or not but most of the smaller market teams cannot support themselves. They leech off the big market powerhouses and then complain about it “not being fair”. These massive streaming deals are because of big market teams. Look at ticket sells when big markets come to town vs small markets as well. Local tv ratings and so on.
Manfred is happy as a pig in s with the Dodgers and Yankees right now but is on the phone begging the Cubs Giants and Red Sox to sign some freaking star power and get back to relevance.
It’s too bad the diamondbacks couldn’t keep buying players after the season started, oh wait…
doing that has consequences. Some teams when they spend they are going in and if it doesn’t work they are messed up for years. But teams like the dodgers should be screwed so bad since they keep buying and not winning. But it doesn’t matter. They are the cowboys of MLB
Sir this is a Wendy’s
Muncy is probably the least likable player in MLB…
How much did Trevor pay you to say that?
Uncommon:
Trevor is not in MLB. But Marcell Ozuna, Aroldis Chapman, and Tommy Pham would make an unlikeable honorable mention list. I didn’t know that anyone disliked Muncy other than MadBum.
Agreed Manny!
Some uneducated fans don’t like Ozuna. But baseball players that play with him and against him love Ozuna. One of the best clubhouse guys you’ll find on any team. I see you’re a Cubs fan…Dansby will tell you. About the only player I can think of that doesn’t like Ozuna is Will Smith on the Dodgers. But that’s just because he was too ignorant to move back a little when Ozuna hits and instead expected Ozuna to alter his swing/follow through for him.
Unbiased opinions as far as the eye can see
Chipper
No reason to doubt that Marcell is liked in the clubhouse, he earned his spot on my list due to his domestic altercation.
AJ Pierzynski slowly backing out of the booth
The Dodgers can have McNeil if they want
Muncy being out long-term has been known for a while. Bigger news is Hurt getting back on the Dodgers pitching carousel.. Knack pitched well enough last night to stick around if Friedman doesn’t have more roster games planned. Will be nice to start having some backup for injuries again.