The Los Angeles Dodgers came out of the All-Star break sitting atop the National League West standings and with one of the best records in baseball despite still waiting on wave of injured players to return.
While the pitching staff has been ravaged throughout the year, Max Muncy and Kiké Hernández recently fell victim to the injury bug as well. In Muncy’s case, he suffered what initially appeared to be a season-ending right knee injury but it’s been nothing but positive developments since Michael A. Taylor slid into him.
Meanwhile, the likes of Roki Sasaki and Blake Snell are continuing to make steady progress in their respective recoveries.
Dodgers updates
Roki Sasaki
Sasaki has started throwing bullpen sessions and is slowly advancing toward a return at some point in the second half.
“Roki is doing well. He worked over the All-Star break. Haven’t seen him today, but everything I hear has been positive,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.
“So hopefully we can keep building him up, face some hitters and get him out there competing again. I don’t really feel confident as far as exact timeline, but what I do hear is it’s been really positive.”
Roberts added that while he believes Sasaki is still limited to only throwing fastballs, his velocity has already reached 90 mph. “That’s pretty good intensity right there,” Roberts said.
He also noted Sasaki’s next bullpen session should come in a day or two as the right-hander is “on a regular routine.”
Blake Snell
Snell has made two starts on his rehab assignment, with the latest outing coming for the Arizona Complex League Dodgers this past Tuesday. Snell previously started one game for Single-A Rancho Cucamonga and now is scheduled to join Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday.
He conceivably could be two starts away from returning to the Dodgers rotation.
“If you think about three innings on Sunday, then you sort of get to four, and we’ll see where we’re at from there,” Roberts said.
Max Muncy
When Muncy suffered his right knee injury on July 2, he and the Dodgers feared the worst. But an MRI revealed a bone bruise that had Muncy relieved, but estimating he would miss around six weeks with the injury.
Muncy was on the field before Friday’s game to take swings and do some throwing. It was his first time swinging a bat since the right knee injury.
“He’s in great shape right now,” Roberts said. “I don’t really know a timeline, but I do know from the outset, it’s going to be a lot sooner than anticipated, which is good for all of us.”
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