With three weeks remaining in the regular season, the Dodgers moved a bit closer to full strength on Monday by activating third baseman Max Muncy off the injured list, after he missed time with a strained oblique.
Muncy is batting cleanup on Monday night in the series opener against the Colorado Rockies at Dodger Stadium.
Muncy has been out since August 15, missing the last 22 games and 3 1/2 weeks. He played three games from Thursday to Saturday for Triple-A Oklahoma City on a rehab assignment, with
two of those games at third base and the other as designated hitter. Muncy had two singles in seven at-bats plus two walks in his three games for the Comets.
It’s not a stretch to say Muncy is a load-bearing piece of the Dodgers lineup, hitting .258/.389/.491 with a 145 wRC+ and 17 home runs in 89 games this season. Including his 25 games missed from July to August with a left bone bruise on his previous injured-list stint, the Dodgers have been without Muncy on the active roster for 47 games this season, and have averaged scoring 3.85 runs in those games. But with him on the roster they have averaged 5.60 runs per game.
With Muncy active, the Dodgers have been held to two or fewer runs 18 times in 96 games (18.8 percent), but with him on the injured list the team scored two or fewer runs 16 times in 47 games (34 percent).
Catcher Chuckie Robinson was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City to make room on the active roster for Muncy, which suggests the team is comfortable enough with Will Smith’s availability that they are back to carrying two catchers again. Though Smith, who left last Wednesday’s game in Pittsburgh after taking a foul ball off his right hand, is not starting on Monday. Ben Rortvedt starts his third straight game behind the plate in the opener against the Rockies.
Robinson was called up on Saturday when Dalton Rushing was placed on the injured list, but did not play in his two games while active.
