The Los Angeles Dodgers caught a tough break during their series finale against the San Diego Padres as Max Muncy was hit by a pitch in his right wrist and was forced to leave the game in the fifth inning.
The Dodgers encountered some issues diagnosing the full extent of Muncy’s injury, because Petco Park only had a fluoroscan machine, which isn’t a full X-ray. That test did not reveal a fracture though, and Muncy then underwent X-rays when the team arrived in Arizona on Thursday, which also didn’t reveal a fracture.
While that is good news, Muncy wasn’t considered completely out of the water yet. The team wanted to do more tests on him, including an MRI on Friday, before officially determining the severity of the injury.
According to Alanna Rizzo of SportsNet LA, it revealed Muncy sustained a minor fracture in his right wrist:
An MRI this AM revealed Max Muncy has a small fracture/crack in his right wrist. No definitive time table for return but he’s hopeful it’s just 1-2 weeks. He still has swelling & an internal contusion. Can’t do much until that clears up.
— Alanna Rizzo (@alannarizzo) August 30, 2019
The positive news for the Dodgers is Muncy should be able to return and get 100% healthy in time for the start of the postseason.
Muncy has been one of the Dodgers’ key players this season and is a big reason why the team is 88-48 and headed for a seventh National League West title. He was named an All-Star for the first time and is batting .253/.375/.525 with 33 home runs, 87 RBI and 89 runs scored in 129 games.
With Muncy expected to miss some time, Chris Taylor and Kiké Hernandez will likely handle second base duties while Matt Beaty should see some increased time at first base. It will be interesting to see if this means that top prospect Gavin Lux gets an opportunity to get some playing time at the big league level.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has indicated that Lux will be called up at some point Sept. 1, but what role he will play on the team, if any, has not yet been determined. Roberts did say that Muncy’s injury could cause them to be more aggressive with their September call-ups.
