The Los Angeles Dodgers season has been overshadowed by the surreal accomplishments of superstar Shohei Ohtani. Now a lock to land his third career MVP award, Ohtani has dazzled, becoming the first player to join the 50/50 club, hitting 50+ home runs and stealing 50+ bases in a single season. And he accomplished the incredible feat in quite possibly the greatest single-game performance in baseball history.
Despite the once-in-a-lifetime performance from the Dodgers’ DH, the team still has some serious business to take care of. Yes, LA has clinched a playoff berth. But the Dodgers are hoping to win the NL West and hold off the Milwaukee Brewers to finish with one of the top two seeds in the National League. This would give the team a much needed bye, allowing LA to rest their injured starting rotation and avoid a nightmare seeding scenario.
It’s an all-hands-on-deck situation for the Dodgers and fortunately veteran third baseman Max Muncy is available for the team, as he’s back in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the San Diego Padres, per The Athletic’s Fabian Ardaya.
Muncy was forced to miss Sunday’s matchup against the Colorado Rockies due to soreness in his side. But after the team’s day off Monday, Muncy is well enough to return to action, manning third base and batting sixth for Los Angeles.
Dodgers welcome Max Muncy back for divisional push
It seems inevitable that the Dodgers will finish the season with one of the NL's top two seeds. The team has a four-game lead over the Brewers with six games to play entering Tuesday. But if LA collapses and Milwaukee sneaks into the second seed, the Dodgers would be forced to play in the Wild Card round against the red-hot Arizona Diamondbacks.
The NL West has been the most competitive division in baseball since returning from the All-Star break. The Padres have the best record in MLB during that span at 40-17. The Diamondbacks are second at 38-22 and the Dodgers have the third-best record in baseball since the Midsummer Classic at 37-22.
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Muncy was forced to miss more than three months of action this season with a strained right oblique. He landed on the injured list in mid-May and wasn’t able to return to the Dodgers lineup until August 19. Muncy made a triumphant return to LA, hitting a home run and driving in two runs in the team’s 3-0 win over the Seattle Mariners.
Although he’s been limited to just 68 games this season, Muncy is an important piece of a star-studded lineup. In limited action this season, he has 15 doubles, 15 home runs, 46 RBI and 46 runs scored along with an .867 OPS, an OPS+ of 145 and 3.0 bWAR.
The Dodgers have a three-game lead over the San Diego Padres in the NL West with six games remaining. The team will have to find a way to win in the postseason without the services of ace Tyler Glasnow and rookie starter Gavin Stone, who is out for the season with a shoulder injury.
