When Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy injured his knee during a game against the Chicago White Sox earlier this month, it was hard not to expect the worst.
Muncy’s knee bent backwards in a way that looked like it could be season ending. General manager Brandon Gomes even admitted he thought Muncy was out for the season.
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“Obviously, [there were] a lot of emotions,” Gomes said. “From a coping mechanism in my head, it was like, ‘OK, he’s done for the year. We’re gonna have to figure out what the next path is. We have to be prepared for whatever is coming.’”
Instead, Muncy was given a six week return timeframe. Three weeks later, he’s already nearing a return.
It almost wasn’t that way, though, as Muncy recently revealed just how close he was to suffering a potential season-ending knee injury that would require surgery.
“If the timing was just a millisecond different either way,” Muncy was told by doctors, “you’re probably looking at surgery, and done for a long time.”
Muncy was in the midst of a hot streak before going down with an injury, hitting .304 with 12 home runs and an OPS of 1.009 over his last 47 games.
Since Muncy went down with the injury, the Dodgers have averaged just 3.36 runs per game, well below the nearly six runs per game they were averaging with Muncy in the lineup.
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Photo Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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