The Los Angeles Dodgers have been without Max Muncy since May 17 when he was placed on the injured list with an oblique injury. In that time, they have still managed to play solid baseball with a 24-17 record in their past 41 games without Muncy.
However, it hasn’t always been easy and the lineup could definitely benefit from his presence as Kiké Hernández and mid-season trade acquisition Cavan Biggio have been unable to adequately replace Muncy’s productivity on offense and defense.
Even with the recent development of Muncy resuming hitting activities, his progress has been slow as he continues to deal with discomfort in his oblique.
With that slow progress, there is an expectation that his current stint on the 60-day injured list longer than the minimum time, according to Bill Plunkett of the Southern California News Group:
But Muncy’s progress has been “slow, to be honest,” Roberts said.
“There’s still some soreness in the oblique,” Roberts said. “He has been swinging a little bit recently. I still think it’s a slow, slow process. So outside of giving a hard timeline, which I don’t think anyone knows, it’s going to be certainly well after the All-Star break, in my opinion.”
In the past couple of weeks, Chris Taylor has turned a corner thanks to some changes in his mechanics at the plate and according to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has earned the opportunity receive more playing time at third base in lieu of the struggling Hernández and Biggio.
In his past 15 games, Taylor is hitting .314/.385/.571 and is more importantly doing a better job at limiting strikeouts. It remains to be seen if he is able to at least partly sustain this level of play, but that does change the equation for the Dodgers when it comes to how active they’ll be on the trade market.
Dodgers general manager Brandon Gomes has stated that the team is not going to let their current injuries significantly affect their trade deadline plans. Their current position in the National League West and the fact that most of their injured players are expected to return for a postseason run are big factors in their current approach.
This affords them the luxury to focus on making moves to be a better team in the postseason rather than making moves to win games in the regular season.
Taylor’s continued performance could dictate whether or not the team makes a move for a a role player with the versatility to play third base to help out the lineup while they wait for Muncy to return.
What are the Dodgers missing without Max Muncy?
Muncy by himself is never going to be a centerpiece of an offense, but being a complementary piece to go along with the Dodgers’ three MVPs is a role that fits him perfectly. His .475 slugging percentage would rank him inside the top-15 in the National League, and his .798 on-base plus slugging percentage would rank inside the top-25 in the NL.
That coupled with his much improved defense in 2024 is something that the Dodgers have been sorely missing.
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