Max Muncy sat out for the second straight game on Sunday in Milwaukee after taking an inside pitch off his right wrist two nights earlier, leaving the Dodgers to wait until Monday’s MRI in Los Angeles to know how much longer they may be without him.
The Dodgers did get a small early break: X-rays on the wrist were negative, and Muncy said he felt pretty optimistic after the ball caught him on a spot he had hurt before. Aaron Ashby hit him there Friday in the first inning of a loss to the Brewers, and Muncy later said he had been hit in that area before and had even broken it before. This time, he said, he did not get the same nauseous feeling that came with the previous injury.
That mattered immediately because the Dodgers were already adjusting. Santiago Espinal started at third base on Saturday, and Muncy remained out again Sunday as Los Angeles finished the series in Milwaukee. He had worn a wrist guard, and he said it appeared to take some of the force out of Ashby’s pitch. For a club trying to keep its lineup intact, even a short absence from one of its regular infield bats changes the shape of the order.
Roberts sounded cautiously upbeat after the game, saying the team felt good for now but would know more once it got back home Monday. He said the club would see then whether a CT scan was needed after the MRI. That is the part the Dodgers cannot yet control: the injury has already cost Muncy two straight games, and the next scan will decide whether that becomes a longer interruption or just a brief pause.
Muncy’s case sits on that edge. The initial test was clean, the player sounded encouraged, and the manager was not alarmed. But the Dodgers still planned the MRI, and if the image shows more than a bruise, the lineup may have to keep moving without one of its most productive bats. Muncy entered the stretch with a.345 batting average, three home runs and 13 RBI, and the club will find out Monday whether that production stays on hold.
