The Los Angeles Dodgers escaped their series against the San Diego Padres with a big fifth inning on Sunday, but more help appears to be on the way.
Manager Dave Roberts reported ahead of the eventual win that All-Star third baseman Max Muncy is set to begin a rehab assignment this week, and by the Dodgers next road trip in Pittsburgh, he can be activated.
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It was evident in the first two games against the Friars, but the Dodgers offense seems to have a habit of going flat lately. At the time of Muncy heading back to the IL, LA averaged 5.79 runs per game with their All-Star in the lineup. Without him, that number drops to 3.42 runs per game.
Muncy had a rough start to the season, batting just .180 across his first 28 games of the season. On April 30, Muncy started to sport glasses that addresed astigmatism an eye doctor found with the slugger.
Similar to what happened to Kiké Hernández last season after wearing the glasses, Muncy saw increased production, including his first dinger of the year during his first game with the new specs.
Since then, Muncy is batting .295 with a 1.040 OPS. He has slugged 17 home runs and 60 RBIs within that 61 game span.
He is without a doubt an integral part of the lineup, but after a knee injury sidelined him for about a month in early July, mere moments before Clayton Kershaw tossed the 3,000th strikeout of his career, and most recently, a right oblique strain, the offense has felt his absence.
In the eight games Muncy returned from his knee injury, he picked up right where he left off, hitting .348/.531/.870 with an absurd 1.401 OPS. The right oblique injury sidelining the slugger, the same ailment that was responsible for him missing over three months last season, has once agains reared its ugly head.
Luckily, it appears that Muncy will return sooner rather than later, but the first step will be conquering his upcoming rehab assignment.
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Photo Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images
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