Let’s face it, 39-year-old veteran second baseman Chase Utley simply isn’t the player he once was – the one who was a six-time All-Star and won four Silver Slugger awards over his brilliant 16-year MLB career. In fact, of the 43 games in which he has appeared in thus far this season for the Dodgers, Utley is 24-for-107 (.224) with one home run, one triple, seven doubles and has driven in 14 runs; not horrible numbers, but definitely not Chase Utley-type numbers.

And then there’s 31-year-old veteran second baseman Logan Forsythe who, in addition to spending more than a month on the disabled list with right shoulder inflammation, is currently sitting right on the Mendoza line (.200), with one home run, five doubles, and 6 RBI – not exactly the kind of production that the Dodgers had hoped to get from the guy who was supposed to be Utley’s (almost) everyday replacement.

Yes, you can argue that super utility Kiké Hernandez has filled in admirably at second base during Forsythe’s extended absence, but Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has made it abundantly clear that whenever there is an opposing right-hander on the mound, Kiké sits; this due to his horrendous .218 batting average against righties. Unfortunately, the extremely popular and flamboyant utility player is hitting even worse from his so-called strong side at an anemic .210.

Simply put, the Dodgers do not have an even mediocre-hitting second baseman.

…or do they?

After sharing well-deserved accolades of his phenom rookie right-hander Walker Buehler following Sunday’s 6-1 pounding of the NL West last place San Diego Padres, Roberts immediately captured the attention of the gathered media when he revealed that current Dodgers hitting sensation Max Muncy could start seeing some playing time at second base.

“He is here to stay for the foreseeable future, he has exceeded our expectations,” Roberts said of Muncy. “But I will say that the front office really had an eye on him – liked him in the batters box, his versatility – and there’s a chance he’ll play some second base here as well.

“But in the batters box – lefty, righty – he stays square, he stays in there, he has some big power,” Roberts added. “He stays in the strike zone and does a good job at that.”

Wait, what? Max Muncy at second base? I mean, let’s be honest here. At 6′-0″ and listed at a (very) generous 210 pounds, the extremely polite and soft-spoken 27-year-old Midland, Texas native and 2012 fifth-round draft pick by the Oakland Athletics out of Baylor University is built more like a fullback than a second baseman.

That being said, with his .241 batting average, his six home runs (including one on Sunday afternoon), his five doubles, and his 17 RBI, Roberts simply cannot afford to keep Muncy out of his everyday lineup. In fact, in order to do so, Roberts has moved 2017 NL Rookie of the Year first baseman Cody Bellinger (who also homered on Sunday) into the outfield in order to keep Muncy’s bat in his offensively-challenged lineup … and it has paid dividends thus far.

Muncy absolutely crushed a 77-MPH change-up off of Padres left-hander Tyler Webb to put a tight 2-1 ballgame out of reach. His 409-foot two-run blast into the Right Field Pavilion was his first career home run off a lefty and was followed by his now-signature bat drop. It was also followed by a two-run blast by Cody Bellinger to make it a 6-1 final score. (Photo credit – Ron Cervenka)

Fortunately for the Dodgers, in addition to being a Gold Glove-caliber first baseman, Bellinger is also a very good outfielder, where he often played in the minor leagues.

The trade off, however, is that although a decent first baseman, Max Muncy is not a Cody Bellinger-caliber first baseman, and it’s probably safe to say that he would also not be a Chase Utley or Logan Forsythe-caliber second baseman. Then again…

So why does Roberts think that Muncy will be a good second baseman, you ask? The answer is actually quite simple – he’s played there before.

“I played a lot of second base last year in the minors, so it’s a position I’m comfortable with,” Muncy said. “I played a lot in 2016 with Oakland, so it’s not a new position to me.”

Sure enough, a quick check of Baseball-Reference.com revealed that of the 43 major league games that Muncy played in with the A’s in 2016, 21 of them were at second base, 21 in the outfield, and one at third base.

As Dodger fans know, Muncy split time at third base with back-up catcher / utility infielder Kyle Farmer while Dodgers All-Star third baseman Justin Turner was on the disabled list recovering from a fractured left wrist suffered when hit by a pitch during the final week of spring training. But with Turner now back in the lineup (and doing exceptionally well), Roberts must now be creative to get – and keep – Muncy’s powerful bat in his lineup … hence that “…chance he’ll play some second base” thing.

Stay tuned…