The Los Angeles Dodgers completed the first of what’s expected to be an estimate six weeks of not having Max Muncy in their lineup as he recovers from a bone bruise in his left knee.
He was placed on the 10-day injured list the day after a collision at third base with Chicago White Sox outfielder Michael A. Taylor. The injury occured when Taylor attempted to steal third base with a head-first slide that carried him into contact with Muncy’s knee, causing it to bend inward.
Muncy’s injury unfortunately coincided with Clayton Kershaw being on the verge of making history as the 20th member of the 3,000-strikeout club.
In the moments following his injury, Muncy experienced a whirlwind of thoughts as he tried to process what just happened to him.
But the hardest pill to swallow was exiting the game with Kershaw one strikeout away from 3,000 as the play occurred exactly three pitches before the milestone.
“It was a wide range of emotions, that’s for sure,” Muncy said. “The first thought, honestly, that was really going through my head as I’m laying on the ground was, ‘Dang it, I have to make Kersh sit there and think about stuff right now.’ I really was not happy about that.
“I was trying to be like, ‘Hey, get me off this field,’ that way Kersh can keep going and we can figure it out inside. And then I’m in the X-ray room and you hear the crowd roar, I was like, ‘Man, I missed it.’ That was honestly the most heartbreaking thing to me.
“Obviously getting hurt sucks and missing time sucks, but to not be able to be out there on that field with him when he got 3,000, that was a pretty big blow.”
In the moment, Kershaw compartmentalized what happened to Muncy but shared the same concern for him as the rest of the organization.
“You do your job, but we’re all thinking about Munce right now,” Kershaw said that night. “He’s a huge part of our team, made a great play there. I don’t really know why he stole. It just seemed unnecessary.
“I feel bad that it happened. We’re all holding our breath that Munce is going to be OK. He’s obviously a huge part of our team, and especially the last two months he’s been unbelievable.”
Once Muncy underwent testing and received his diagnosis, his reaction to the news was “twofold.” On one hand, he avoided a season-ending injury. But on the other, missing six weeks was disappointing news.
Max Muncy’s injury won’t change Dodgers’ trade deadline
With Muncy facing a prolonged recovery, some have wondered whether the Dodgers will look to acquire a third baseman before the MLB trade deadline on July 31. However, manager Dave Roberts does not believe that is a strong possibility.
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