LOS ANGELES — The Dodgers’ return to a high-powered offense was a bit fractured Monday.
In fact, there were two fractures.
On the day that Max Muncy returned from three months away because of an oblique injury and Tommy Edman was set to make his Dodgers debut after recovering from wrist and ankle injuries, first baseman Freddie Freeman was diagnosed with a fractured middle finger on his right hand and backup catcher Austin Barnes has a fracture in his left big toe.
Freeman still was in the lineup Monday and batting third for the opener of a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners, while Barnes went on the injured list.
“Freddie’s doing fine,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “There’s a hairline fracture in his right middle finger. It’s sort of to his (pain) tolerance. And Freddie has a high tolerance, so he’s gonna play. Shouldn’t affect him at bat (or) throwing.”
Freeman is batting .292 with a .391 on-base percentage that led the National League going into Monday’s schedule of games. He also has 17 home runs and 72 RBIs.
Freeman’s injury occurred on a bad-hop ground ball in Saturday’s game in St. Louis and he did not play Sunday. Barnes had a rough game Sunday, when he was hit in the toe by a foul ball and took a back swing off the back of the head.
“With Austin, I don’t think it should be anything longer than 10 days,” Roberts said. “It’s sort of a Freddie situation where it’s per his tolerance. He feels better (Monday) than he did (Sunday).”
Barnes is batting .241 with a .318 OBP this season. Since the start of July, he is batting .296 with a .367 OBP in 18 games.
To take Barnes’ spot on the roster, Hunter Feduccia was recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City. Feduccia made his major league debut July 31 and recorded an out in his lone at-bat.
To get Muncy and Edman on the roster, infielder Nick Ahmed was designated for assignment and rookie outfielder Andy Pages was optioned to Triple-A.
Ahmed batted .229 with a home run in 17 games with the Dodgers and played solid defense at shortstop, but with Edman’s ability to play short (among several positions), his spot was expendable.
Pages was batting .246 with nine home runs and 36 RBIs in 98 games since his debut April 16. He is a candidate to return when rosters expand in September.
For now, Pages will get regular at-bats at Oklahoma City as his playing time with the Dodgers was expected to diminish with Mookie Betts’ return to the outfield, Edman’s arrival and Kevin Kiermaier set to be a late-inning defensive replacement.
Muncy said he had three setbacks while recovering from his oblique injury but he has finally returned to full strength. The last step in his recovery was gaining the trust that he wouldn’t re-injure himself again.
“It didn’t feel like we were ever going to clear that hurdle and once we finally did, it was this huge sigh of relief like, ‘Oh man,’” Muncy said. “It was always in the back of my head, when I started swinging that, ‘What if this happens again?’ We’re definitely in the clear on that now.”
Utility man Chris Taylor (groin) was in the Dodgers’ clubhouse on Monday as he gets set to shift his rehab assignment this week to Class-A Rancho Cucamonga.
Taylor said he has been in the process of making swing adjustments designed to help him drive the ball.
“That’s the one thing about getting hurt is that it gives you like a mini offseason to kind of reevaluate things,” Taylor said. “It gives you the time to get live at-bats where there is no pressure to perform and try things out. I tried to take advantage of that time.”
Taylor batted .167 with a .227 OBP, three home runs and 15 RBIs before his injury July 24. He had a .333 OPS over nine games before he went on the injured list.
Roberts said Taylor could be activated to the roster by the end of the week.
Right-handed reliever Blake Treinen (hip), who last pitched in a game on Aug. 4, is expected to be activated to the roster Tuesday. … Right-handed reliever Brusdar Graterol (hamstring), who was thought to possibly be lost for the season when he was injured on Aug. 6, continues to progress toward a return and will throw a bullpen this week.
Mariners (RHP Bryce Miller, 9-7, 3.29 ERA) at Dodgers (RHP Walker Buehler, 1-4, 5.58 ERA), Tuesday 7:10 p.m., SportsNet LA, 570 AM
