Dodgers Injury Update: Max Muncy and Clayton Kershaw setbacks, other pitching news

Cavan Biggio, the Dodgers' interim third baseman, had a pretty good day at the plate on Saturday, inarguably his best since joining the team on June 12. Batting ninth, he had two hits and scored two of LA's seven runs against the Angels. It was a promising sign given the news the Dodgers dropped ahead of the first game of the series, which might see Biggio getting a lot more playing time if he can get hot before the trade deadline.

The Dodgers activated Kyle Hurt before optioning him to Triple-A (where he was already pitching through a rehab assignment starting on June 7). To make room for the move, they also sent Max Muncy from the 10-day to the 60-day IL.

Muncy has seemingly been trending in the wrong direction since he was sidelined with an oblique strain in mid-May. Before the official transfer, he still wasn't swinging the bat despite over a month on the IL. He's acknowledged that he's been frustrated with his recovery, which has been much slower than he anticipated.

Biggio and Kiké Hernández will continue to platoon at third base for the time being, but the Dodgers may have another item to add to their trade deadline checklist if Muncy continues to plateau.

Dodgers injury updates: Max Muncy moved to 60-day IL, Clayton Kershaw reporting shoulder soreness, Dustin May and Brusdar Graterol progress

Some bad news for Clayton Kershaw as well, whose recovery from shoulder surgery had been going along swimmingly and ranked as way ahead of schedule until Saturday. He threw a bullpen session as part of his rehab assignment in Single-A and reported shoulder soreness. There's not too much reason to panic (yet), as the Dodgers haven't made an official move to push back his next scheduled start and he played catch on Sunday.

It's understandable that the news has had Dodgers fans on red alert, though. The rotation is temporarily back up to five with Landon Knack's second call up on June 21, but things still feel precarious in that part of the roster. Hopefully, the Dodgers will get some good news on Kershaw and the soreness will turn out to be a blip.

In some better news, Dustin May and Brusdar Graterol both threw bullpens this weekend that Dave Roberts called "promising." Exact timelines are still up in the air, but both anticipate to return later this season, which will be great news as the Dodgers head into the late-season stretch and the postseason.