Dodgers' Dave Roberts Reveals How Max Muncy Injury Impacts Trade Deadline Plans

Mere moments before Los Angeles Dodgers legend Clayton Kershaw secured the 3,000th strikeout of a professional baseball career that will one day end in Cooperstown, All-Star third baseman Max Muncy suffered a scary injury while tagging out a runner attempting to steal third.

This not only brought an eerie feeling over Dodger Stadium as the severity of the collision was still unknown, but it put an abrupt pause to what has been an increasingly productive stretch from Muncy this season.

The third baseman said that he's looking at about six weeks of recovery until he can get back to the diamond.

Muncy entered the month of May hitting just .194, but has since had a slash line of .282/.410/.546 with a .956 OPS.

Muncy's struggles up until May created a bit of a stir in terms of what the future of third base would look like. With the trade deadline at the end of July, insiders couldn't help but link the Dodgers to potential deals, but all that talk seemed to subside for the most part as the All-Star got his bat to a much more recognizable place.

Manager Dave Roberts spoke on the impending deadline and if there is a need to replace Muncy for the

“I don’t think that changes much, knowing the certainty of Max coming back at some point,” Roberts said. “I feel with the options we have – yes, Max is a big loss – but I feel like on the defensive side, having Tommy [Edman] over there matching up right versus left, as far as Hyeseong [Kim] and the two right-handers I mentioned, I think we’ll be covered offensively. So I don’t think that will really impact our thinking going into the deadline.”

The versatility that the Dodgers have in Edman, who can seemingly play every position that isn't pitcher and catcher, and Kim with his four Gold Glove awards in KBO at both second and shortstop show that LA no longer has a clear need for a trade in his absence.

During the beginning of the year, and during the bulk of Muncy's struggles, Kim hadn't yet made a name for himself in the dugout and was still proving his offense in Triple-A.

As the All-Star Break approaches, the Dodgers are in the midst of a six-game losing streak. Muncy's absence has been evident from the LA lineup, and the defending champions will have to turn things around soon as the deadline quickly approaches.