Max Muncy made his long-awaited return to the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup on Monday and played a key role in helping the club pick up a win.
Muncy was first placed on the 10-day IL on May 17 because of a right oblique strain, but the Dodgers hoped he would return quickly. That did not end up being the case as he dealt with numerous setbacks and continued discomfort throughout his rehab process.
On June 21, Muncy was transferred to the 60-day injured list, and it wasn’t until July 30 that Muncy experienced a turnaround upon visiting a chiropractor that allowed him to ramp up and eventually begin a rehab assignment.
Muncy was happy to get back in the lineup after missing so much time. “It felt really good,” he said.
“It’s been a long couple months, considering we couldn’t necessarily figure out what’s going on. You feel like the season is starting to get taken away from you a little bit.
“So to be able to finally come back and play, feel healthy, most importantly, and do something to help the team win, it was a pretty cool moment for me.”
Muncy struck out in his first at-bat and flied out in his next. But in the seventh inning with the Dodgers leading by one, Muncy blasted a two-run homer. “It’s a little bit of a relief,” Muncy said.
“It’s been a couple months since I got a hit, so, you know, it felt good “But the biggest thing to me was just getting a good result on the barrel. Obviously, the home run as a result is extremely special, but just getting a good swing off on a pitch that’s in the zone, that’s something that you can build off and just go from there.”
While it wasn’t the winning runs for the Dodgers, it extended their lead and took some pressure off the bullpen. It also showed how good their lineup can be with their entire group on the field.
“For Max to come up tonight in a big spot and homer gave us some breathing room, gave Joe a little runway, and then Evan to finish it,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts began. “But I just really like that now, we’re finally healthy as far as on the position-player side.”
Max Muncy still working to get in form
Despite Muncy homering in his first game back, he still feels there is work to be done with his swing to fully get back on track.
“The mechanics feel really good,” Muncy said. “Obviously, the timing is not entirely where I want to be, but that’s just something that’s going to come with more time out there on the field. There’s only so much time you can have doing a rehab assignment.”
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