Why Max Muncy Left Friday’s Loss Early, What’s Next for Dodgers Slugger?
The Dodgers lost game No. 1 of the 13 they’ll play against the division rival San Diego Padres this season. After getting out to an early 1st inning lead, the Dodgers bats went silent, as the pitchers couldn’t find the strike zone. The Dodgers pitching ended up walking 11 Padres, and two Fernando Tatis Jr. home runs gave the Friars the 5-2 win.
While this is a game the Dodgers and their fans will most definitely want to quickly move on from, there is one storyline we have to talk about.
In the bottom of the 8th inning, with the Dodgers trailing by two, and with Max Muncy’s spot due up in the 9th, Dave Roberts removed him from the game. Chris Taylor came in as a defensive replacement at third base, and Muncy received the rest of the night off.
This definitely caused a bit of concern among Dodger fans, as the game was very much within reach, and the Dodgers’ slugger had an at-bat coming next inning. Maybe a reason for the switch could have been the fact that Padres closer Josh Hader would be entering the ballgame, and Muncy was 1-for-10 against him in his career. But Muncy has been the best Dodger hitter this season, and Roberts recently said the Dodgers go as Muncy goes. So that wouldn’t have made sense.
After the game, Roberts spoke to reporters, and clarified the reasoning for taking Muncy out in the 8th inning. He said Muncy was dealing with “flu-like symptoms,” and was 50-50 to play in the game in the first place. The fact that he played as long as he did was impressive enough.
The Dodgers clearly have something going around, as Trayce Thompson has been sick the last week, and wasn’t even with the team for a part of their homestand. Thompson is feeling better now, and slated to start against the left-handed Blake Snell on Saturday. Muncy, however, remains up in the air.
Roberts said the plan is for Muncy to be the team’s designated hitter tomorrow, but obviously it’ll depend on how he feels when he wakes up. If he is dealing what Thompson had, he could be out for a game or two.
Hopefully that’s not the case, though, as the Dodgers need Muncy in the lineup. When he plays, the team is now 18-11. When he doesn’t, they’re 1-3.
Let’s hope Muncy wakes up feeling better today and is good to go for Saturday’s 5:40 p.m. PT start time. The Dodgers would love to get back on track on Saturday.
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Quit all the damm excuse.. this is what happens when they play a good team.. and managed by a loser like Roberts.. who has proven time and time again he can NOT win the big games!!
I can’t argue.
Drink a ton of water. Soup it up in between, with some Aspirin. And take a lil thera flu when u hit the hay, Max ( or anybody). We need him today in the rubber match! I hope we get a 10-0 perfect game! Poor Pads never threw a perfect game. And just 1 lonely no hitter, via Musgrave.
U know, the Tam-Pads never really get injured much. That sux cuz we have a yearly side team on the IR, add in Bauer to that, we get fucked every year! Last year we didn’t lose any hitters; just Betts for 3 weeks, Lux for a month. This year we’re making up for that good luck, cuz Lux gone all year. JD was just getting good, Smith cost us some wins already. Dmse with JD too, a couple games we might have won with him in. Rojas has cost us depth. And all these fn’ maternity vacations. Ffs! Can’t Guggenheim send maternity players on their private jets? Fly em down n back real quick like? Miss only 1 game perhaps. 2 if it’s a match up we can play around. We’ll hit r stride come allsayt break! getting Reyes, Trienen, Hudson , Nelson, back. Lil later, Feirheisen, Buehler. Pepiot n Grove will be back next month early. All that maternity crap will be done too! We’ll get a good 20 game winning streak here after break, and take off. I want SD right behind us tho, keeping us honest and hungry! None of this 20 game lead s***, where we get entitled, lazy and assuming.