One month after losing Chris Taylor for a prolonged stretch because of a fractured forearm, the Los Angeles Dodgers nearly experienced a similar scenario with Max Muncy when he was hit by a pitch in his right wrist.
Muncy was immediately removed from the Aug. 28 game against the San Diego Padres and initially diagnosed with a contusion. Though, all that was available to him that night at Petco Park was a fluoroscope, which led to additional testing.
An X-ray the following day also came back negative, but Muncy nonetheless was scheduled for an MRI. It was then discovered he indeed suffered a minor fracture in the wrist, which Muncy still considered a positive diagnosis.
He slowly began increasing his level of baseball activities before reporting to Camelback Ranch to continue with the rehab process. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Muncy is leaving the Dodgers’ Spring Training facility with a multi-homer performance behind him, as seen on SportsNet LA:
“He’ll be flying to meet us in New York. He has been hitting live pitching, as I heard, he had three homers today. So I don’t know how many at-bats he took, but that’s obviously a good sign. Looking forward to getting him back.”
Muncy is expected to be activated off the 10-day injured list Friday and be in the lineup when the Dodgers begin a three-game series with the New York Mets. Should that come to fruition, his return at Citi Field will mark exactly two weeks since the fracture was discovered.
Muncy forecasted he would only miss around 14 days and was confident he’d make a full recovery in time for the start of the postseason. Regardless of whether the Dodgers maintain the best record in the National League or are passed by the Atlanta Braves, they will play Game 1 of the NL Division Series on Thursday, Oct. 3.
Muncy’s pending return also comes at an opportune time as the Dodgers are dealing with some uncertainty surrounding Justin Turner. He’s missed the past three games due to a sore left ankle and is scheduled to undergo an MRI after X-ray results were inconclusive.
Though, Roberts downplayed any serious concern over the injury, explaining Turner could have been in the lineup on Wednesday if it were any sort of must-win scenario for the Dodgers.
