Dodgers Place Tommy Edman On Injured List

The Dodgers placed Tommy Edman on the 10-day injured list with a right ankle sprain. As expected, Max Muncy was reinstated from his own IL stint in the corresponding move.

Edman missed a couple weeks in May with ankle inflammation. He aggravated the injury while rounding first base on a single during yesterday’s win over Tampa Bay. Edman was immediately lifted for a pinch-runner, and manager Dave Roberts said postgame that it’d require an injured list stint. The switch-hitting Edman had a monster April, hitting eight home runs in the season’s first month. He hasn’t hit much since then, batting .214/.273/.323 in 210 plate appearances going back to May 1.

The Dodgers will lose one of their most valuable defensive players. Edman plays above-average to plus defense virtually everywhere on the diamond. He has played mostly second base but also taken a decent amount of innings in center field and at third base. The Dodgers also recently lost Hyeseong Kim to an IL stint. That presumably leaves second base to rookie infielder Alex Freeland, though it’s veteran utilityman Miguel Rojas who gets the nod there tonight after Freeland started four consecutive games at the hot corner.

Muncy will step back into an everyday role at third base. He’s back a month after suffering a bone bruise in his left knee. That’s a remarkably quick turnaround. Not only did the injury initially look gruesome, Muncy announced a six-week timetable even after imaging revealed he’d avoided ligament damage. Muncy was on a tear before the injury. After hitting .194 over the season’s first month, he raked at a .282/.410/.546 clip with 12 home runs from the start of May until the injury. He’s hitting fifth tonight against the Cardinals, who are turning to Sonny Gray in the series opener.