Cody Snavely
As the Los Angeles Dodgers wrap up their series with the Philadelphia Phillies tonight, there are plenty of notes to review before the series finale.
Muncy & Edman to begin rehab assignments this weekend
While the Dodgers anticipate all-star shortstop Mookie Betts to rejoin the team on the upcoming road trip on August 12th or 13th, which will be a massive boost to their offense, they have also missed third baseman Max Muncy‘s production in the lineup.
Muncy, who has been out since mid-May with an oblique injury, has gone back and forth between actively doing baseball activities and being shut down completely.
After months of frustration, Muncy went to an external source seeing a chiropractor that changed his season. Where the thirty-three-year-old has felt the best in weeks and finally began swinging a bat and fieldwork.
According to Dave Roberts, Muncy has been fully participating in pre-game work and will finally begin his rehab assignment in Triple-A OKC this weekend.
Muncy will be joined by recently acquired utilityman Tommy Edman, who has not appeared in a game this season due to offseason wrist surgery and a sore ankle.
Edman, a known defensive merchant, will undoubtedly help the Dodgers in areas they need, such as center field, where the twenty-nine-year-old will play the most, according to multiple Major League Baseball insiders.
Is Graterol’s season not over?
The Dodgers did not only drop the middle game against the Phillies last night but also lost right-handed relief pitcher Brusdar Graterol after only eight pitches after injuring his hamstring.
It was reported after the game by Dave Roberts that it was a grade three hamstring string (the worst one), all but ending his 2024 season, barring any late October run by the Dodgers.
However, during today’s pre-game scrum, Dave Roberts corrected himself, stating that he misspoke about the injury, stating that Graterol only sustained a grade-one strain and could possibly return at some point this season.
However, there are less than two months of the regular season left, and with hamstrings being one of the trickier injuries, it does shed some doubt about a return, but the Dodgers remain “hopeful.”
Graterol was a pivotal arm for the Dodgers bullpen during the 2023 season, posting a 4-2 record with a 1.20 ERA and seven saves in sixty-eight games.
Rojas & Grove activated; Graterol placed on IL, Outman optioned
Prior to tonight’s game, the Los Angeles Dodgers announced that right-handed pitcher Michael Grove and veteran shortstop Miguel Rojas would be activated.
Rojas, who has been out since the Boston Red Sox series finale due to right forearm tightness, played designated hitter in one rehab game yesterday with the Dodgers’ Single-A affiliate, the Rancho Cucamonga Quakes.
Roajs will resume the everyday shortstop role until Mookie Betts returns in the next few days, but the break could be good for the thirty-five-year-old, as he hit .182/.217/.490 in July.
Grove, who has been on the 15-day injured list due to a right intercostal strain back in mid-June, has appeared in six games, pitching 5.1 innings, posting a 3.38 ERA, 0.94 WHIP, and seven strikeouts.
Dave Roberts stated that once the righty was activated off the 15-day injured list, he would fill in the role of the multi-inning eater, which was held by left-handed pitcher Ryan Yarbrough before he was DFA and traded to the Blue Jays.
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