Dodgers All-Star candidate Max Muncy helped off field with apparent knee injury

The Los Angeles Dodgers entered Wednesday hoping they would see history from Clayton Kershaw. They saw pain from Max Muncy first.

With their future Hall of Famer one strikeout from the 3,000 strikeout club, the Dodgers’ starting third baseman went down with a painful-looking knee injury on a play where Chicago White Sox center fielder Michael A. Taylor was caught stealing.

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Taylor slid directly into Muncy’s lower left leg and left the 34-year-old writhing on the ground while holding his knee. He was eventually helped off the field by a trainer, with a pronounced limp.

Dodgers broadcaster Orel Hershiser later told viewers that Sportsnet LA would not show replay of the injury because of how ugly it was, reporting Muncy’s knee appeared to bend backwards.

Kershaw reached 3,000 strikeouts later in the at-bat, becoming the 20th MLB player to enter the exclusive club. Muncy’s injury took the air out of the Dodger Stadium crowd, but it still gave the southpaw a lengthy standing ovation between innings.

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A serious injury for Muncy would be a significant blow for the Dodgers, who have spent seemingly all season to not even get healthy, but perhaps more like 90%. Muncy has been good enough to reach Phase 2 of the voting for the 2025 MLB All-Star Game, losing out on the NL third base slot to San Diego Padres star Manny Machado hours before the game.

Muncy turned a dreadful start to the season around after a trip to the eye doctor led to him adopting glasses at the plate. The results were night and day: .194/.309/.301 and one homer in 29 games before the glasses, .286/.414/.553 and 12 home runs in 51 games after the glasses entering Wednesday.

He just finished off a month of June in which he ranked second in the majors in OPS at 1.113, behind only Juan Soto.

The Dodgers can only hope Muncy avoids an lengthy IL stint. In the meantime, they’re looking at some combination of Kiké Hernández, Miguel Rojas and Hyeseong Kim at the hot corner without him, with top 100 prospect Alex Freeland waiting in the wings at Triple-A Oklahoma City.