Dodgers News: Max Muncy Unavailable vs Dbacks, IL Stint Not Anticipated

Oh, poor Max Muncy. Things have just not gone his way in the early throes of the season. At the plate, he’s 1-13 with 7 strikeouts. And on the field, he took a glancing blow from a baseball that took a little bit of an awkward hop and wore where any man would rather not wear it.

Last night, Dave Roberts said Max was taken out of the game after “an interaction with a baseball” that took the third baseman’s breath away a little bit. Doc said he’d be reevaluated on Sunday and, well, the reevaluation is keeping Muncy out of the lineup.

“[He’s] not great. Still sore, so today I just don’t see him being available.”

Thankfully the Dodgers don’t expect him to miss much more than this one game.

For the veteran, there are probably better ways to get a mental reset day off, but he sure could use it. It hasn’t gone according to plan for Muncy to open the year, as alluded to above. After a nice spring training where he posted an OPS over 1.000, he’s been a victim of bad luck and bad swings. We saw some frustration on Saturday night after another strikeout. When he is making contact, he’s hitting the baseball hard. His average exit velocity of 97.9 is among the best in baseball, but it looks like he’s pressing at the plate.

Chris Taylor got the start at third base as the Dodgers and Noah Syndergaard, making his Dodger debut, try to take the opening series against the Diamondbacks.