Max Muncy left Friday night’s game against the Milwaukee Brewers after being hit by a 95.5-mph sinker in the right wrist. Early X-rays came back negative, and Dodgers manager Dave Roberts expects him to miss only the remainder of the three-game series while th
MILWAUKEE — Max Muncy knew something was wrong the moment a pitch found his right wrist.
In the eighth inning Friday night against the Milwaukee Brewers, Muncy was hit by a 95.5-mph sinker from Aaron Ashby. He could be heard yelling in pain as soon as the ball struck. He left the game after the hit, and Los Angeles went on to a 5-1 loss.
Dave Roberts said initial X-rays were negative. The Dodgers manager also made one thing clear: even if the worst didn’t happen, Muncy still was expected to miss the rest of the Dodgers’ three-game series in Milwaukee.
“I’m not feeling great right now, but it’s a relief,” Muncy said after the defeat. “We’ve just got to monitor the next couple of days. Typically, especially in that area, the X-rays never come back positive immediately. It kind of forms a little bit.”
Muncy said the impact landed across his padding as well as his wrist. “I’m pretty sure it hit half my wrist pad and half my wrist… That’s kind of what I was feeling,” he said. “Me deciding to wear that wrist guard the last couple of years might have saved my wrist, at least tonight.”
The 35-year-old has dealt with similar scares before, and it showed in the way he described what he was trying to listen for inside his own body. Muncy said pitches have hit each of his wrists during his career, including a right wrist fracture after a pitch hit him in 2019.
“I’ve been hit in that spot before and I’ve broken that spot before,” Muncy said. “The biggest thing I always took with me from that was just the nauseous feeling you get, and I didn’t quite have that tonight. That’s why I’m feeling optimistic about it.”
Santiago Espinal pinch-ran for Muncy in the eighth inning and will fill in for him at third base Saturday. For the Dodgers, the immediate question is whether swelling settles quickly enough to shorten the timeline.
Roberts said the goal is simply to get through the next couple of days safely. “I think it got enough of that pad to protect it,” Roberts said. “He’ll be down for the next couple of days just to make sure we get that swelling out, but I think right now we’re breathing a sigh of relief.”
This season. Muncy has been a key piece of Los Angeles’ offense. batting .258 with a .363 on-base percentage and .515 slugging percentage. with 12 homers and 19 RBIs in 48 games. His power has only added to the urgency around any wrist injury. too—Muncy has homered 221 times since joining the Dodgers in 2018. and the only players with more career Dodgers homers are Eric Karros (270) and Ron Cey (228).
For now, though, the mood in Milwaukee is cautious optimism. The pain was immediate, the hit was hard, and the wrist guard did what it’s supposed to do. After the early X-rays came back negative. Muncy and the Dodgers are left waiting on the only thing that can’t be rushed: time to see how the wrist holds up after the swelling and soreness run their course.
Max Muncy Dodgers Brewers Aaron Ashby HBP right wrist X-rays Dave Roberts Santiago Espinal