Dodgers offseason takes another hit with awful Max Muncy injury update

So … we were lied to this entire time? Did the Los Angeles Dodgers purposely lead fans on to believe Max Muncy’s elbow injury was a lot less serious than it actually was?

Muncy himself may have spilled the beans during an MLB Network appearance on Monday, shortly after Max Scherzer departed for the New York Mets and Corey Seager signed with the Texas Rangers on a massive 10-year contract.

Talk about kicking Dodgers fans while they’re down, huh? A brutal turn of events. Anyway, remember back in early October when it was said Muncy suffered an elbow sprain during the final game of the regular season and that it was “possible” he could return for the World Series? Remember we were specifically told he didn’t suffer any UCL damage, which elicited a sigh of relief considering that news seemingly dodged the Tommy John surgery bullet?

Change of plans! Muncy revealed to former Dodgers reporter Alanna Rizzo (who’s now with MLBN) that he has a torn UCL! What?!

Max Muncy’s injury update is bad, bad news for the Dodgers.

You mean to tell us Muncy is rehabbing a partially-torn UCL? That changes the trajectory with almost everything this offseason. Having already lost Scherzer and Seager in addition to the uncertainty surrounding Clayton Kershaw and the deafening silence on Chris Taylor and Kenley Jansen, Muncy’s potential unavailability on Opening Day because even more nauseating.

The surgery question will continue to loom large, but more importantly, why was the correct and accurate information not divulged after Muncy underwent an MRI? And what does this mean for his offseason training/program? Will he even be in shape or healthy enough come April?

We’re not oblivious to what happened here. And we’re not speculating outside of an appropriate realm. The Dodgers were largely quiet/clandestine about the injury when it happened (and the weeks after). It’s not our fault Muncy picked the worst day in recent Dodgers history to drop this truth bomb on us.

Had he been slated for surgery when the injury happened, he likely could’ve returned by June (Tommy John rehabs for position players are typically in the eight-month range). Now? If he has to undergo the procedure (knock on wood) … we’re looking at maybe a half-season’s worth of healthy playing time for Muncy in 2022.

At the very least, it would’ve been nice to have the Band-Aid ripped off six weeks ago and be under the impression that Muncy would be enduring an extensive rehab. It’s never encouraging to be hit with injury news like this when you’re reeling from an all-time bad day in free agency.

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