After Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy exited the game with a wrist injury against the San Francisco Giants, the Dodgers made their final injury report, including All-Star catcher Will Smith, ahead of the second game of their three-game series. Friday's 5-1 Giants loss snapped a four-game win streak for the defending World Series champions. Los Angeles will look to bounce back on Saturday and announced.
Smith, who's dealing with a bone bruise in his right wrist, was ruled out. However, Muncy has been cleared to play, per The Athletic's Fabian Ardaya.
“As expected, Max Muncy is in the Dodgers lineup and Will Smith is not,” Ardaya reported.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts says Smith is close to being at full strength, per Dodgers Nation.
“It's still there. It doesn't feel great,” Roberts said. “It's getting better each day but still not 100 percent.”
Still, Roberts says Smith's improving every day.
“I think after his first game back [Tuesday] and just feeling with all the tests we've done to come up negative and the swelling has dissipated… we thought we'd be in a better spot,” Roberts said. “But at least there's improvement each day.”
For Roberts, there's a good chance Smith won't land on the Dodgers IL.
“But there is talk as far as potential downside, how long we can wait to see if he can potentially get back to playing,” Roberts added.
Amid Los Angeles' NL West race, where it holds a 2.5 lead over the San Diego Padres for first place, the Dodgers will have Muncy back in the lineup.
Max Muncy on his journey back to Dodgers from IL
Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy discussed his return from an oblique injury after a rehab assignment with the Triple-A. Muncy said how he felt great heading into Friday's matchup against the Giants, per SportsNet Los Angeles.
“Body feels good. You know, it's a strange rehab assignment because it's one of those ones where you literally don't worry about any of the results,” Muncy said. “You're kind of more worried about checking boxes, you know, make sure you get swings off. You know, get a swing and miss, get a check swing.”
Muncy has appeared in 92 games for the Dodgers this season. He’s been productive when healthy, hitting .252 with an .862 OPS, 17 home runs, 64 RBI, a 141 OPS+ and 3.3 bWAR.
