{"id":73342,"date":"2025-08-16T05:08:06","date_gmt":"2025-08-16T05:08:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/73342\/"},"modified":"2025-08-16T05:08:06","modified_gmt":"2025-08-16T05:08:06","slug":"dodgers-to-place-max-muncy-on-il-with-oblique-strain-claim-buddy-kennedy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/73342\/","title":{"rendered":"Dodgers To Place Max Muncy On IL With Oblique Strain, Claim Buddy Kennedy"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Dodgers have claimed infielder Buddy Kennedy<\/a> off waivers from the Blue Jays, per Dodger Blue<\/a>. Right-hander Julian Fern\u00e1ndez<\/a> has been designated for assignment as the corresponding 40-man move. Toronto designated Kennedy for assignment last week. Manager Dave Roberts says that Kennedy will jump right onto the active roster as third baseman Max Muncy<\/a> goes on the 10-day injured list due to a grade 1 oblique strain, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Muncy was scratched from Wednesday\u2019s lineup due to right side soreness. The club was off yesterday and it seems further testing has determined that he needs at least a bit of a breather. It\u2019s not clear exactly how long that breather will be. \u201cI don\u2019t think anybody expects it to be season-ending, but hopefully it\u2019s sooner rather than later,\u201d Roberts said, per Alden Gonz\u00e1lez of ESPN<\/a>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s an unfortunate development for the Dodgers. It\u2019s been a real up-and-down season for Muncy but he\u2019s been in good form lately. He started the year ice cold, slashing .190\/.313\/.286 through May 12th. Since then, he\u2019s been red hot, hitting .314\/.447\/.660. That heater was interrupted by a monthlong stint on the IL due to a bone bruise in his left knee but that didn\u2019t slow down his production. He came off the IL a little over a week ago and produced a .348\/.531\/.870 line in eight games between IL stints.<\/p>\n

Despite Muncy\u2019s production, the Dodgers have been in a bit of a skid lately. They went 10-14 in July and are 5-7 so far in August. Meanwhile, the Padres have gone on a tear and have taken over the lead in the American League West. The two clubs start a series against each other in Los Angeles tonight. Losing one of their hottest hitters is obviously less than ideal for the Dodgers as they move into the stretch run. Ideally, Muncy can return fairly quickly but oblique injuries are notoriously difficult.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s also not great when considering the club\u2019s larger infield picture. Enrique Hern\u00e1ndez<\/a>, Tommy Edman<\/a> and Hyeseong Kim<\/a> are also on the IL, leaving the club a bit thin in that department. Alex Freeland<\/a> will likely step in as the regular third baseman with Miguel Rojas<\/a> taking over the keystone. The only healthy position player on the 40-man roster who is on optional assignment is outfielder Esteury Ruiz<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Claiming Kennedy gives the Dodgers a bench infielder, something they would have otherwise lacked. The 26-year-old has plenty of intriguing numbers in the minors but hasn\u2019t yet clicked in the majors. That has led to him exhausting his options, which has pushed him into journeyman territory. Over the past few years, he has suited up for the Diamondbacks, Tigers, Phillies and Blue Jays. He has stepped to the plate 163 times scattered over the four most recent seasons but with just a .193\/.288\/.300 line to show for it.<\/p>\n

As mentioned, his minor league work has been better. Dating back to the start of 2023, he has 1,262 Triple-A plate appearances. His 13.9% walk rate and 17.1% strikeout rate in that time are both solid figures. He produced a combined .284\/.395\/.443 line and 116 wRC+ over that span while playing all four infield spots and a bit of left field as well. Since he\u2019s out of options, he may only hold his roster spot for as long as it takes for someone else to come off the IL. But he was out there on the wire when they needed an infielder, so he\u2019ll get a shot with the Dodgers now.<\/p>\n

Fern\u00e1ndez, 29, signed a minor league deal with the Dodgers in the offseason. He was selected to the 40-man roster on July 7th. He pitched two innings that day, allowing two earned runs, and was optioned back down to Triple-A the next day.<\/p>\n

His major league track record is still limited, as he had just six appearances prior to his one with the Dodgers this year, but he\u2019s been in good form in Triple-A this season. He has tossed 41 1\/3 innings with the Oklahoma City Comets, pitching in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League, with a 3.05 earned run average, 8.8% walk rate and 28.7% strikeout rate.<\/p>\n

With the trade deadline having passed, Fern\u00e1ndez will end up on waivers. He can still be optioned for the rest of this year and one additional season. Given his numbers this year and the fact that he can be stashed in the minors, it\u2019s possible he gets claimed in the coming week by a club in search of extra bullpen depth.<\/p>\n

Photo courtesy of Kirby Lee, Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Dodgers have claimed infielder Buddy Kennedy off waivers from the Blue Jays, per Dodger Blue. Right-hander Julian…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":73343,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[33134,49,48,45327,32944,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-73342","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-buddy-kennedy","9":"tag-ca","10":"tag-canada","11":"tag-julian-fernandez","12":"tag-max-muncy","13":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73342","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=73342"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/73342\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/73343"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=73342"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=73342"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=73342"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}