Max Muncy's Injury: Athletics' Infield Shuffle

0:00It's April 28th. You're listening to MLB News today, AI-powered MLB coverage. The Oakland Athletics just placed their young infielder Max Muncie on the 10-day injured list with a fractured fifth metacarpal in his left hand. The 23-year-old, their first round pick from 2021, has been holding down third base this season. To fill the spot, they called up Brett Harris from AAA. Muncie started hot, hitting over 300 early on with some real pop, including a couple homers and extra base hits. With since getting plunded by a pitch on April 13th, he slumped hard, going just 3 for 32 with a ton of strikeouts. That hand bruise turned out to be a break, which explains the dip. He's got solid minor league numbers, crushing AAA last year at 325, with way fewer whiffs down there, scouts like his average power, speed in the 72nd percentile, and versatility across shortstop, 2nd and 3rd. Backouts are his big hurdle in the majors, though, sitting at over 35 percent.

1:01No firm timeline yet, but a glove hand fracture like this usually means more than the minimum time out. The A's can mix and match Harris and DeRail her nays at the hot corner, or maybe shift Jeff McNeil over to open second for Zach Gelloff. This hurts their infield death right now, but Muncie's tool suggests he'll bounce back as a utility guy, or more, once he dials in that swing. Keep an eye on how they rotate in the meantime.