Roberts still betting Muncy will rebound
ST. LOUIS » When the Dodgers placed Max Muncy on the injured list in late May, he was batting .150 with a .591 OPS and only three home runs in the season's first six weeks.
The IL move was a chance to let his left elbow heal further from the injury he suffered at the end of the regular season last fall. But it was also a chance for Muncy to re-set mentally. When he came back, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, it was the beginning of a new season for Muncy.
Twenty-nine games into his mulligan, though, Muncy has hit .175 with a .664 OPS and five home runs — modest improvements only.
For the first time since the 2020 season, Roberts dropped Muncy to seventh in the lineup. But he said it was just a temporary response to the matchup with St. Louis Cardinals righthander Adam Wainwright and not a sign that Muncy's season-long struggles had finally prompted Roberts to move him into a less-prominent spot in the lineup.
“It's a one-day thing,” Roberts said. “Tomorrow we've got Dakota Hudson. Max will be back in the six. But again, this is a performance-based business. Obviously, I have a longer leash with guys — at times. We're going to keep monitoring it. I still feel that in the past week, the swings that he's getting off have been better swings. I know we're trending in the right direction.”
Muncy has said the same thing, bemoaning his bad luck and pointing to exit velocities as a sign he is hitting the ball more squarely. But the results have not changed significantly.
“That's fair,” Roberts said. “I still think that trying to peel back the results and how we're getting there – him staying in the strike zone, getting off good swings, I think I'll still bet on the results albeit they haven't been what any of us would expect.
“Obviously there's certain times of frustration. But I think the overall atbat quality for me has been better . ... The results haven't been there. But I'm expecting them to be there. That's my hope, my bet.”
Cat suit
Right-hander Tony Gonsolin revealed on SportsNet LA on Tuesday that veteran teammate Clayton Kershaw had rewarded him for making his first All-Star team by buying him a custom-tailored suit to wear during the All-Star festivities, including the Red Carpet Show Tuesday at L.A. Live.
“It's just a baseball thing,” Kershaw said of the gift. “Somebody did it for me once so — continue it down the line.”
Tipping point
Both Roberts and first baseman Freddie Freeman remarked after Tuesday's game that the Cardinals had surprised them with how well they hit Mitch White's breaking pitches. White gave up six runs on 10 hits in five innings in the loss.
Roberts acknowledged that the Dodgers were “digging into” whether White might have been tipping his pitches.
“Guys are watching a lot of video and trying to figure it out,” Roberts said.
White said pitch tipping has been “a concern in the past” but he didn't think that's what was at work in Tuesday's loss.
“It's always a possibility. But I don't think so,” White said. “I just think yesterday was a case of not being super-sharp. They definitely saw it (his curveball) early and were able to adjust to it, down in the zone.
“I think it's more a case of me being able to spin the ball aggressively in the zone as opposed to letting them pick it up early whether it was that or the slider.”