Los Angeles Dodgers Receive Unfortunate Injury Update on Key Player: 'Further Testing Will Provide Greater Clarity'

Dodgers Get More Brutal Injury News on Key Player: 'Once We Get Some Testing We'll Know More'

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Max Muncy may miss time with side soreness.

As if things weren’t going badly enough for the Los Angeles Dodgers, they are once again dealing with an injury to star infielder Max Muncy.

Muncy was scratched from LA’s loss to the rival Angels on Wednesday night with what the club called “side soreness.”

Muncy had just returned from a stint on the injured list with a knee injury that cost him 25 games. That injury started a dismal stretch where the Dodgers (68-53) have gone just 12-21 and fallen into second place behind the San Diego Padres in the National League West.

What Happened To Max Muncy?

Though he is far less heralded than former MVPs Freddie Freeman, Shohei Ohtani or Mookie Betts, or even NL batting leader Will Smith, Muncy is a linchpin to the LA offense.

He ranks third on the Dodgers in OPS+ (145) behind only Smith and Ohtani, and Muncy is still fourth on the Dodgers in home runs (17) even though he has played in just 89 games.

LA is just 14-18 in games he doesn’t play. In spite of all that, when he reported soreness in his side before the Dodgers’ series finale of the Freeway Series in Anaheim, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts pulled him and started Alex Freeland at third — putting Mookie Betts in at shortstop, even though Roberts had wanted to give him a day off.

“Max went into the cage today to start his routine and felt a little soreness in his right side,” Roberts said. “So talking to the training staff, we felt to err on the side of caution, kind of have him down.

“It’s day-to-day. He’ll get some testing.”

Is There Concern About Max Muncy’s Side Injury?

Roberts likely did not use the word “oblique” when describing Muncy’s injury, in part to avoid raising alarm bells — or giving Dodgers fans PTSD — about the infielder’s nasty injury from 2024.

He landed on the injured list in May with what was initially called a right-oblique strain but spent more than three months out of the lineup while he also managed a displaced rib.

Still, Roberts downplayed the severity of Muncy’s most recent ailment, even though it did occur on his right side.

“It’s not the same as last year,” Roberts said. “Max feels that it’s not muscular, but I think once we get some testing we’ll know more.”

Will Max Muncy Play Against The Padres?

With Muncy’s status day to day, and the Dodgers off Thursday, he could return to the lineup for the series opener in this weekend’s crucial series at Dodger Stadium.

Though they fell out of first place, the Dodgers are still in a good position to win the NL West and clinch one of the two wild-card-round byes.

FanGraphs gives LA a 62.4 percent chance to win the division and superior odds (41.4) to the Philadelphia Phillies (37.2) to finish with the second-best record in the NL behind the white-hot Milwaukee Brewers.

A big part of that is the fact the Dodgers currently own the tiebreaker between the clubs, based on their 5-2 record in head-to-heads this year. But the teams will play their final six head-to-heads over the next 10 days, which means LA can ill-afford to play without Muncy against its southern rivals.

Pat Pickens is an experienced sports writer and media personality who has written for outlets like NHL.com, the Associated Press, the New York Times and USA Today. He covers the NFL, NBA, NHL and NBA as a breaking news contributor at Heavy. More about Pat Pickens